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60th Congress! 
2d Session I 



SENATE 



I Document 

1 No. 764 



I 7 V *• ' < U' 



Redfield Proctor 



(Late a Senator from Vermont) 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



^ 



Sixtieth Congress 
Second Session 



SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
January 9, 1909 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
January 10, 1909 



Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing 



WASHINGTON : : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : : 190'* 






SEP 16 1909 

fi. OF a 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Proceedings in the Senate 5 

Prayer by Rev. Edward E. Hale 5,8 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Dillingham, of Vermont _ ~- '- lo. 

Mr. Daniel, of Virginia - 23 

Mr. Perkins, of California __ 31 

Mr. Clay, of Georgia 37 

Mr. Smoot, of Utah _. _ .- 44 

Mr. Crane, of Massachusetts _ - 50 

Mr. Hemenway, of Indiana 52 

Mr. Page, of Vermont 55 

Proceedings in the House 60 

Prayer by Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D 60, 62 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Haskins, of Vermon t 65 

Mr. Scott, of Kansas 77 

Mr. Lamb, of Virginia 83 

Mr. McCall, of Massachusetts 87 

Mr. Foster, of Vermont 90 

Mr. Hull, of Iowa 95 

3 




XC.DTTo J£BJ):FT'iff.TT) jTE©CD-3C>iB . 



Death of Hon. Redfield Proctor 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE 

Thursday, March 5, 1^08. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Edward E. Hale, offered the following 
prayer : 

For this cause we faint not. But though our outward man is 
decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. 

For we know if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, 
we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens. 

^ '!■ "i- ^ 'I* -I" •!- 

Now he that hath wrought us for this very thing is God, who 
also hath given to us- the earnest of the Spirit. 

Even so, Father, Thou art pleased to teach us the lesson of 
life, even at the moment of death. Thou hast promoted Thy 
servant to higher service, he that had trained himself for such 
service here. And now we ask Thee in Thine own holy spirit 
to quicken our spirits that we may not be afraid of the end; 
that we may accept in Thine infinite providence what Thou 
hast prepared for us beyond this line of earthly life; that day 
by day and hour by hour we may come nearer to Thee; and 
that we may open our eyes to see that larger and better world, 
and that wider life for which Thou hast prepared us. 

Father, we thank Thee for the memories of such a life. We 
thank Thee for the service that he has rendered to this land. 

5 



6 Proceedings iu the Senate 

And we ask Thee to go with us, to go with all these who hear 
with sorrow of his death, as Thine own children. Amen. 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy 
kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is done in 
heaven. Give us this day our dail>- bread, and forgive us our 
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead 
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is 
the kingdom, and the power, and the glorv forever. Amen. 

Mr. Dillingham. Mr. President, it is with profound sorrow 
that I announce to the Senate the death of Hon. Redfield 
Proctdr, late a Senator from Vermont, which occurred at his 
apartments in this city last evening shortly before 5 o'clock, 
after an illness of less than a week. While it was known that 
the nature of his illness was serious, yet his condition was not 
considered critical until Tuesday evening, and therefore the 
announcement comes with a shock as well as with a sense of 
grief to all his friends and associates. 

At some future time, and on an occasion appointed for that 
purpose, I hope to join with other friends of .Senator Proctor 
in this body in paying to his memory that tribute of affection, 
confidence and, esteem which I know is felt by all, and to 
speak from personal knowledge of what I conceive to be a 
remarkable life, one marked by great accomplishments. 

Senator Proctor was a man of strong powers. He possessed 
keen judgment, an indomitable courage, and an energy that 
never lagged. His life was one of achievement along all the 
lines toward which his energies were directed, but however great 
these achievements have been, they never narrowed his sympa- 
thies nor affected his friendships. 

He loved his State. He loved her people. His State loved 
him, trusted him, and honored him. To-day Verrriont mourns 
the loss of her distinguished son. 



Proceedings iii the Senate 7 

In order that the Senate may give expression to the feeling 
which I feel sure is entertained by all his associates, I ask for 
the immediate consideration and adoption of the following reso- 
lution: 

The Vice-President. The Senator from \'ermont asks for 
the present consideration of resolutions which will be read by 
the Secretary. 

The resolutions were read and unanimously agreed to, as 
follows : 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profuund sorrow of the death 
of the Hon. Redfield Proctor, late a Senator from the State of Vermont. 

Resolved, That a committee of seven Senators be appointed by the Pre- 
siding Officer to take order for arranging the funeral of Mr. Proctor. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect his remains be removed from 
Washington to Proctor, Vt., for burial in charge of the Sergeant-at-Arms, 
attended by the committee, who shall have full power to carry these 
resolutions into effect. 

Rcso/ved, That the Secretarv communicate these proceedings to the House 
of Representatives and request the House to appoint a committee to act 
with the committee of the Senate. 

The Vice-President appointed as members of the commit- 
tee under the second resolution Mr. Dillingham, Mr. Daniel, Mr. 
Gallinger, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Taliaferro, Mr. Overman, and Mr. 
Hemenway. 

Mr. Dillingham. Mr. President, I offer the following reso- 
lution and ask for its immediate consideration. 

The \'ice-PrEsident. The Senator from Vermont proposes 
an additional resolution, which will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolution, as follows: 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased 
Senator the Senate do now adjourn. 

The resolution was unanimously agreed to, and (at 12 o'clock 

and 8 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until to-morrow, 

Friday, March 6, 1908, at 12 o'clock meridian. 



8 Proceedings in the Senate 

Saturday, May 23, igo8. 
Mr. DiLLi.N'GHAM. Mr. President, I wish to give notice that 
on Saturday, December 12 next, after the conckision of the 
morning business, I will present resolutions of respect to the 
memory of Redfield Proctor, late a Senator from \'erraont in 
this body, and ask that the other business of the Senate be laid 
aside to enable his associates to pay proper tribute to his char- 
acter and distinguished imblic service. 

Wednesday, December q, igo8. 
Mr. DiLLixGHAM. Mr. President, prior to the adjournment 
of the last session of Congress I gave notice that on Saturday 
next I would ask the Senate to consider resolutions commemo- 
rative of the life and character of my late colleague, the Hon. 
Redfield Proctor. I desire now to withdraw that notice 
and to say that I will ask the Senate to consider those resolu- 
tions on Saturday, the 9th day of Januarv next. 

Saturday, January q, igog. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Edward E. Hale, offered the following 
prayer : 

These men were honored in their generation ; and thev leere a 
glory in their day. 

These were men of mercy, whose righteous deeds have not been 
forgotten. 

The peoples will declare their wisdom; and the cumjregation 
.fhall show forth their praise. 

Let us pray. 

Father, to-day we thank Thee for the men who have ser\-ed 
Thee, and serv^ed this people, and serv'ed this Nation in the 
days which have passed, in the days which are here. Thou 
hast been pleased to answer the prayer of this people. From 
year to year and from century to century Thou hast sent us 
men who loved the Nation more than thev loved themselves 



Proceedings ni the Senate g 

who served this people and sen-ed Thee. Going and coming- 
in the field, on the sea — in the wilderness and in this Senate 
Chamber Thou hast sent Thy servants to do Thy perfect will. 

Teach this Nation to-day what it is when men and women 
and children live for others, when they forget themselves for 
the common good, when they are strong in Thine almighty 
strength, when they do not ask to be praised of men, but seek 
the praise of God. 

Bless us in this Congress; bless us in these States; bless us 
in this Nation; and make of this people that happy Nation 
whose God is the Lord. We ask it in Christ Jesus. 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy 
kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses. 
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for 
Thine is the kingdom. Thine is the power, and Thine is the 
glorv, forever and ever. Amen. 

Mr. Dillingham. Mr. President, pursuant to previous 
notice, I offer the following resolutions and ask unanimous con- 
sent for their present consideration. 

The Vice-President. The resolutions will be read by the 
Secretary. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

Resolved, That it is with deep regret and profound sorrow that the Senate 
has heard the announcement of the death of Hon. Redfield Proctor, late 
a Senator from the State of \ermont. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased the 
business of the Senate be now suspended to enable his associates to pay 
fitting tribute to his high character and distinguished services. 

Resolved, That the Secretary transmit to the family of the deceased a 
copy of these resolutions, with the action of the Senate thereon. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions to the House 
of Representatives. 

The Vice-President. The question is on agreeing to the 
resolutions submitted by the senior Senator from Vermont. 
The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 



lo Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Dillingham, of Vermont 

Mr. President: It time permitted and I followed the impulses . 
of my heart, I should speak of the man, Redfield Proctor, 
as he appeared to me during an unbroken friendship of nearlv 
forty years, the memory of which is rich in associations, all of 
them hallowed by faith and confidence, most of them made 
bright by the many-colored lights of agreeable companionship, 
while some were of that serious, earnest nature through which 
alone are revealed the deeper and more sacred elements of one's 
character. But this is neither the time nor the occasion for 
such an indulgence. A strong man has fallen; an influential 
Member of this body has suddenly ceased his labors and entered 
into rest. It is to him as a public servant that we must more 
particularly direct our attention on this occasion. 

It would be a fitting tribute to the high character and to the 
commanding influence of Senator Proctor to say that at the 
age of 20 he was a graduate of Dartmouth College; that at 23 
he received from that institution the degree of Master of Arts; 
that at 28 he graduated from the Albany Law School, and was 
admitted to practice in the highest courts of his State; that at 
34 he returned to civil life after a distinguished sers'ice in the 
army, first as quartermaster of the Third Vermont, later as a 
member of the staff of Gen. "Baldy" Smith, still later as major 
of the Fifth Vermont, having served in front of Washington and 
on the peninsula, and finally as colonel of the Sixteenth Ver- 
mont, a part of the Second \'ermont Brigade, whose brilliant 



Address of Mi . Dillingham, of Vermont 1 1 

service at the battle of Gettysburg has given it an enviable place 
in historv; that at the age of 37 he had twice ser\-ed the town 
of his residence in the general assembh'; that at 43 he was rep- 
resenting his countv in the state senate, of which body he was 
president pro tempore; that at 45 he was lieutenant-governor of 
the State, and at 47 he was occupying the gubernatorial chair; 
that at 48 he was Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President 
Harrison; and at 60 he became a Member of this body, remain- 
ing continually in service until he passed from this life to the 
life eternal. 

But such a tribute would be incomplete without the further 
statement that during a single period of twenty years this re- 
markable man placed himself in the front rank of those men of 
genius who have led our nation in its triumphal march to in- 
dustrial and productive supremacy. Such a record could only 
be made bv one who, in character and achievement, represented 
the best element in the social, business, and political life of 
both State and Nation during the period covered by his ac- 
tivities. 

In seeking the source of those strong and rugged but safe 
and sane characteristics, which enabled him to distinguish him- 
self along so many different lines in life's work, we find that 
he drew his inspiration from an ancestry, all of whom had 
part in the great movements among the English people toward 
a larger libertv, during the seventeenth century; who assisted 
in the development of the great principles of constitutional 
liberty during the splendid colonial period of American history; 
who, in everv stage of state and national development, have 
been active and prominent in the maintenance of representative 
government, and who, during the later period, have been among 
those who helped to lay the foundations of. our unprecedented 
industrial development. 



12 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

In his veins ran the blood of Robert Proctor, a freeman of 
substance and position, who, within ten years after the found- 
ing of the historic town of Concord, in the old colony of ]\Iassa- 
chusetts Bay, became one of its residents, and of Jane, the 
daughter of Richard Hildreth, the founder of the illustrious 
family of that name in America. They belonged to that re- 
markable body of English emigrants who, between 1630 and 
1645, found their way to Massachusetts, and of whom Fiske 
says that "in all history there has been no colonization so 
exclusively affected by picked and chosen men." They repre- 
sented all that was advanced in English life and liberty and 
"came mainly," as Campbell tells us, "from that middle class, 
the class which, always encouraged by Elizabeth, had in her 
days filled her universities, given England her literature, and 
made her glorious on sea and land." They were men who, 
foreseeing the storm which shook the foundations of the throne 
a little later, provided for themselves a refuge in New England, 
where, during the period when the English people were break- 
ing the chains of absolutism, they were laying the foundations 
of states in which the principle of liberty under law was to find 
its highest expression. 

It was from his grandfather, Leonard Proctor, the head of 
the family in Vermont, that he inherited his spirit of venera- 
tion for those to whom the late .Senator Hoar was wont to refer 
as the "greatest nation builders in the world's history," and 
his lifelong devotion to the principles of free, representative 
government; for it was this ancestor who, with his two eldest 
sons, was active in the war of Independence, taking part in 
the fight at Lexington, and in the battles of Trenton and Mon- 
mouth, and who was chosen b>- his fellow-patriots as one of 
the committee of correspondence in 1780, as well as one of the 
committee "to take under consideration the new form of 



Address of Mr. Dillingham, of Vermont 13 

government." But it was from his parents, Jabez and Betsy 
(Parker) Proctor that he derived that rare combination of per- 
sonal characteristics which enabled him to reach the high 
pinnacle of success in the establishment and development of great 
industrial interests and, on the other hand, that unusual mental 
endowment which enabled him to engage in the broader fields 
of statemanship, clearly to analyze every proposition, industrial 
or political, and by logical processes work out to a right con- 
clusion the most difficult problems. The father w-as a man of 
vigor and full of resources, a farmer, merchant, and manufac- 
turer, a prominent citizen in his community, standing for all 
that was best in town and state life; the mother, a woman of 
unusual character, belonging to a family noted for its strong 
mentality, and to which \'ermont is indebted not only for her 
great Senator, but for his two distinguished cousins, Isaac F. 
and Timothy P. Redlield, one chief justice and the other an 
associate justice of her supreme court. 

With such an ancestry, with such connections, and reared 
among a people whose lives found expression in high thinking 
and right living, whose ambitions were tempered with reason, 
but nourished by a belief in the gospel of honest effort, it is not 
surprising that Senator Proctor's life, from youth to old age, 
was one of marked achievement. 

It not infrequently happens that an individual is wholly un- 
conscious of powers which, lying dormant, need only time and 
opportunity to assert themselves with a commanding and con- 
trolling force, a force which gives breath to new conceptions, 
develops new ambitions, which directs his energies along new 
lines of effort and, eventually, to a career i)rilliantly successful, 
though wholly unanticipated. So it was with Senator Proctor. 
In his youth and young manhood all his ambitions centered in 
a professional career. It was his settled purpose to devote his 



14 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

life to the practice of the law, and after his admission to the 
bar he spent two profitable years in the office of his distin- 
guished cousin, Isaac F. Redfield, who had laid down his work 
as chief justice to open an office in Boston, where he was en- 
gaged in practice and in authorship. 

This relation was only severed that he might serve his coun- 
try in her hour of need, and upon his return to civil life he 
made haste to reengage in the practice of his profession, this 
time through a partnership with his comrade in arms. Col. 
W. G. \'eazey, who afterwards distinguished himself as an asso- 
ciate justice of the supreme court of \'ermont and as a member 
of the Interstate Commerce Commission. They opened offices 
at Rutland, the seat of the marble industry in \'ermont, then in 
its infancy, and their practice was of such a character as to 
bring Colonel Proctor into professional touch with its pro- 
moters and into some knowledge of its conditions. His inher- 
ited business instincts led him to a closer investigation of such 
conditions, and he soon became profoundly impressed with the 
vast possibilities of the industry if properly managed and ener- 
getically pursued; and he was subsequently led to assume the 
management of a plant where ten gangs of saws did the work 
of a bankrupt corporation. In this work he became conscious 
of powers and inclinations theretofore lying dormant, the exer- 
cise of which gave birth to new ambitions and new purposes 
which dominated his future life. In short, he discovered him- 
self — his ability as an organizer, a director, a financier ol unerring 
judgment and undaunted courage. In a single decade of time 
he advanced from the position of superintendent of a small 
plant to that of president of the \'ermont Marble Company, a 
corporation which he organized and which is now undoubtedly 
the largest producer of marble in the world. The manage- 
ment of this ra]iidly growing industry taxed his strongest 



Address of Mr. Dillinghani, of VcrDioiil 15 

powers and called into action all the resources of his naturally 
strong character. Here was developed the aggressive force, 
the marked executive ability, the sound judgment, the sagacity 
and farsightedness, and the stubborn courage which marked his 
career. Under his direction every department of the business 
was thoroughly organized with a responsible head; new prop- 
erties were purchased, new quarries opened, improved methods 
of operation instituted, and new markets sought and found. 
Under his forceful and farsighted direction its business increased 
bv leaps and bounds, so that at the end ot twenty years of effort 
he stood prominent among those whose genius has contributed 
to the Nation's industrial greatness. 

It was during this jjeriod of twenty years, when time and ener- 
gies were taxed with exacting cares along the lines already indi- 
cated, that he found time to ser^'e his town, his county, and his 
State in everv elective position, from that of selectman in the 
town of his residence to that of governor of the Commonwealth. 
In legislative halls and in the executive chamber he met the 
fullest expectations of the people, making a marked impress upon 
the thought and progress of the vState. From 1880, when his 
term as governor expired, until 1888 he was admittedly liie 
leader of his party in Vermont, and in the last-mentioned year 
was chairman of the Vermont delegation to the national Repub- 
lican convention, which nominated Benjamin Harrison for 
President. In the election of that year ended the first period of 
his activity, and in his acceptance of the portfolio of war in the 
Cabinet of President Harrison the second began. 

He brought to the discharge of his duties as the head of the 
War Department a rare combination of qualifications. To his 
knowledge of military affairs, acquired by actual ser\-ice in the 
field during the civil war, he added the training of a lawyer and 
the long experience of a notably successful business and politi- 



i6 Memorial Addresses: Redfidd Proctor 

cal career. The period of his service was short, but it was 
marked bv the adoption of many measures that have resulted 
in great and permanent benefit to the department itself and to 
the arniv at large. One only may be now mentioned as an 
illustration of his administrative capacity. 

When Secretary Proctor entered the War Department he 
found that one of the most important branches of its work — 
that of furnishing information from the military and medical 
records for the adjustment of pensions, pay, bounty, and other 
claims of soldiers, their widows, and orphans — was hopelessly 
in arrears. He found an accumulation of more than 40,000 cases 
of this kind scattered through many different divisions of the 
department and in various stages of delay, ranging from a few 
months to as many years. None of his subordinates responsible 
for this state of affairs was able to suggest any remedy for 
it other than an appeal to Congress for an enormous increase 
of clerical force. But Secretary Proctor thought that a simpler 
and more easilx' attainable remedy would be effectual, and he 
applied it, with magical results. In July, 1889, he consolidated 
into one fourteen different divisions of the department, with all 
of their employees and with all of their records and business 
relating to the volunteer armies of the wars, and placed the con- 
solidated division under his own immediate direction, but in 
charge of a single officer, in whose ability to bring order out 
of chaos he had confidence. 

This radical action met with a storm of objections, protests, 
and ])rophecies of disaster both within and without the depart- 
ment, but the results speedily attained silenced the objectors 
and confounded the prophets. In just three months from the 
date of the consolidation the enormous accumulation of cases 
was disposed of, the work was brought up to current date, and 
from that day to this the claims of soldiers, their wives and 



Address of Mr. Dilliiigliam. oj Vtrmont 17 

orphans, have never suffered delay in the War Departmenl, sub- 
stantiallv all of them being disposed of within twenty-four 
hours from the date of their receipt. 

The consolidated division created by Secretary Proctor was 
subsequentlv established by Congress as a permanent bureau 
of the War Department under the name of the Record and 
Pension Office. The history of that office is too well known to 
require mention here further than to say that the business 
methods originated and adopted in it while it was under Secre- 
tary Proctor's direction were adopted by succeeding Secretaries 
of War for the other branches of the departmental service. 
The adoption of these methods resulted in a permanent annual 
saving of more than half a million dollars in the Record and 
Pension Office alone, in addition to the great acceleration of 
work made possible by them, and similar beneficial results have 
followed their adoption elsewhere. The public owes a heavy 
debt of gratitude to Redfield Proctor for the revolutionary 
and far-reaching measures of^ reform that he courageously set 
on foot. And the War Department's collection of more than 
fifty millions of index record cards, by means of which I lie 
crumbling muster rolls and other invaluable records of the vari- 
ous wars in which the country has been engaged were saved 
from destruction and the historical information that they con- 
tain made ready for instant use whenever required, now stands 
as a monument to him and to his wisdom and courage that made 
the completion of this great work possible. 

Senator Proctor took his seat in the Senate in December, 
1891, having been appointed by my present colleague, then gov- 
ernor of Vermont, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of 
Hon. George F. Edmunds, and by successive elections by the 
legislature continued to occupy it down to the time of his death. 
As a prominent member of the Committee on Military Affairs 
78133 — S. Doc. 764, 60-2 2 



1 8 Memorial Addresses: Red field Proctor 

and for a considerable time its acting chairman, he brought to 
that service the wealth of information derived from his adminis- 
tration of the Department of War, and in the consideration of 
the armv and fortification appropriation bills and of all impor- 
tant legislation affecting in any way the organization of the 
army and the national defense his strength and influence were 
strongly felt both in the committee and on the floor of the 
Senate. The possibility of a war with Spain stirred him deeply 
and roused him to characteristic action. The debates preceding 
the declaration of war against Spain showed such lack of au- 
thoritative information of existing conditions in Cuba and. as a 
consequence, such wide differences of opinion among Senators 
as to the policv which ought to be adopted by the Government 
that he was filled with apprehension, and with characteristic 
forethought and following a lifelong practice to seek the fullest 
knowledge of underlying conditions upon which to base his 
judgment and action, he, on his own responsibility, at his own 
expense, sought bv a personal visit to Cuba to ascertain the 
real conditions there existing. When, upon his return, he gave 
to the Senate a cold, bare, plain statement of what he had seen 
and what he had learned, unaccompanied either by argument 
or recommendation, he did it with such gravity and such im- 
pressiveness that the facts stated burned themselves into the 
minds of every Senator present, and, being heralded by the 
press, roused the nation to action. 

As chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry 
he found an especiallv congenial line of work, and seconded 
with enthusiasm the efforts of the Secretary of Agriculture to 
extend the work of that department. It was under his leader- 
ship that much of the legislation was adopted which has so 
mar\-elouslv extended the scope of its operations during the 
last decade, and made it such an important factor in the 
development of the national resources, in the protection of the 



Address of Mr. Dillingham, of Vermont 19 

public health and in the individual prosperity of so many of 
the people. 

Time forbids any extended notice of his sen.'ice in this body. 
Speaking generally, however, it may be said that it was marked 
with the same strong characteristics which enabled him to dis- 
tinguish himself in every position to which he had been pre- 
viously called. His knowledge of the general field of legislation 
was broad, his opinions upon public measures pronounced. He 
approached the consideration of every question from the stand- 
point of reason, good sense, and the public good. While candid 
in spirit, open to conviction, and tolerant of the judgment of 
others, his opinions, once formed, ripened rapidlv into convic- 
tions which invariably found expression in action. While he 
never posed as a public speaker, he was, in fact, strong and 
effective when he engaged the attention of the Senate. His 
addresses indicated patient research, deep thought, and strong 
convictions, and his grave and earnest spirit gave emphasis to 
all his utterances. In debate he was clear, strong, and insistent, 
but tactful and winning. Those who differed from him recog- 
nized in him not only an antagonist of strong purpose but one 
of strong resources as well. 

Politically and socially Senator Proctor belonged to the revo- 
lutionary period of thought. As a statesman he entertained a 
profound reverence for the character and the wisdom of the 
men who framed the Constitution and for the provisions of 
that memorable document. \o one realized more clearly than 
he the necessity for a strong central government of clearly enu- 
merated and delegated powers, and no one opposed more reso- 
lutely any tendency on its part to encroach upon the reserved 
rights of the States. These were in his judgment, the founda- 
tion upon which our liberties were established and upon which 
their preser\-ation depends. In the operation of the General 



20 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

Government he had always in mind the admirable system of 
checks and balances contained in the Constitution to preser\^e 
the independence of each of its coordinate branches, and re- 
sented with indignation any attempted encroachment of one 
upon either of the others. He had always in mind Washington's 
injunction : 

Let there be no change by usurpation, for this, though it may in one 
instance be the instrument of good, is the ordinary weapon>by which free 
governments are destroyed. 

He agreed also with John Stuart Mill that — 

Evil for evil, a good despotism in a country at all advanced in civiliza- 
tion is more noxious than a bad one, for it is more relaxing and enen.ating 
to the thoughts, feelings, and energies of the people. 

He was so strongly impressed with the strong temptation 
which comes to occupants of the executive chair to make a 
selfish use of the powers which attach to that position when 
seeking a second election and to the dangers attending their 
exercise that as long ago as 1897 he introduced a joint res- 
olution providing that the Constitution be so amended that 
the President shall hold office for six years and shall not be 
eligible for reelection. This resolution he supported in a 
speech rich in material and of commanding force. 

As a citizen he belonged to the same school of thought. 
He accepted as a boy and retained as a man the principles 
of equality as they were taught by the fathers and embodied 
in the daily life of those about him. He loved the plain peo- 
ple and mingled with them upon a common plane. His dis- 
like for display was only equaled by his aversion for cant and 
pretense. Genuine and true in his own character, he was at- 
tracted to others by what they were rather than by what they 
possessed. His strong, serious nature responded to every 
worthy call, and this, modified by his abimdant humor and 
quaint wit, drew men to him and held them in loval, devoted, 



Address of Mr. Dillingham, oj Vermont 21 

and lasting friendshiiJ, During tin,- whole period of his active 
life his benefactions were numerous and constant, though for 
the most part individual and private in character, but during 
the last year of his life he entered upon a new field of benevo- 
lence. Not far distant from his own home there stands, in the 
midst of a great natural park, the Vermont sanatorium for the 
treatment of tuberculosis, the gift of Senator Proctor. In its 
grand proportions, its perfect design, and in the completeness 
of its provisions for the purpose intended, it is an expression of 
his broad svmpathv for the afflicted ones among the people 
whom he loved so well. 

Vermont mourns the loss of a son who honored her as a citi- 
zen and as her sen.-ant both in state and national life. His mem- 
orv is fondlv cherished by all her people, and his name will be 
held in honor by succeeding generations. 



22 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 



Address of Mr. Daniel, of Virginia 

Mr. President: The interesting discourse of Senator Proc- 
tor's associate in this body [Mr. Dillingham] has admirably 
depicted his remarkable career, and I, who knew him from a 
different standpoint, may properly be less comprehensive. 
But I am gratified to pay my tribute to his acknowledged 
worth, which I well realized and honored. 

After a long, busy, and achieving life, Redfield Proctor, 
senior Senator from Vermont, ended his days in this city on the 
4th dav of March, 1908, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. 
In the fulness of time, amidst the fruits and honors of his labors, 
he passed to the last account. 

"The glory of man is strength." So it hath been and so it 
will be in all generations, for it is only by strength of one sort 
or another that the higher performances of man can be accom- 
pHshed. The healthy mind in the healthy body is the instru- 
ment of Providence by which man's best achievements are 
secured. 

Senator Proctor was a strong man. He stood straight and 
tall and possessed a well-knit and shapely frame. His high, 
broad forehead and the outlook of his face betokened the 
strength of intellect that was in him. He was strong of limb, 
of will, and of purpose, as he was of brains. His was not a 
nature to beat itself against the bars with restless and aimless 
fervors, or to indulge in hesitating fancies and fitful and inde- 
cisive undertakings. While in no wise a sentimentalist, he 
had an honest mind and sound sentiments that gathered aroun^ 
them brave and good purposes. 



Address of Mr. Daniel, of Virginia 23 

"Good thoughts are only as good dreams," said Francis 
Bacon, "unless they be put to act." 

Proctor was not a dreamer, except of things that might be 
put to act and come to pass for good. He made ceaseless efforts 
for self-development, and for improvement and advancement of 
State and country in all directions. 

His life indeed was a straight line of action from reflection 
to design; from design to preparation; from preparation to 
objective effort; and from effort to consummation. 

It was a siege with a city before him to be taken, and he 
advanced with the regularity, skill, and precision of the engineer 
the encircling lines that brought him conqueror to the citadel. 

His mind was eminently practical. He was a man of business 
capacity, and as such he scanned the face of environments and 
measured with them his just ambition. He succeeded because 
he looked at facts as they were without the extravagancies of 
imagination and without illusion. 

We can not analyze a man as we can a mineral, nor measure 
him like a yard of cloth, nor weigh his tine subtle quality like 
some material substance, but we may discover the governing 
faculties and principles of his life, and we found them in Senator 
Proctor in his well rounded and equipped mind, illumined 
with the clear white light of commom sense and in his ceaseless 
application to the tasks which he undertook. 

We may not label all of man's talents or attainments or 
accomplishments, for many will appear dwarfed or be obscured 
by the necessit}' or concentration in his chosen occupations. 
Jefferson might have made as great a fiddler as Ole Bull could 
he have subsided in the peaceful pursuits of inclination, but 
he heard before him the trumpet of his life, and to that trumpet 
call he responded in assiduous and unremitting toil for libertv 
and country. "How sweet an Ovid was in Murray lost," 



24 Memorial Addresses: Red field Proctor 

sighs the poet; but the world has found consolation that the 
muse was neglected by him who will live in jurisprudence as the 
great jurist, Lord Mansfield. 

Proctur laid the foundation of a broad, enlightened career by 
his graduation at Dartmouth College and his course afterwards 
at the Albany Law School. As he planted so did he reap. A 
classical education is always expanding and enriching to the 
apt intellect, and the study of law must ever remain amongst 
the noblest employments of the citizens of a republic. Hered- 
ity, environment, and education mold and direct character. 
The product of a venerable and worthy institution which pre- 
serv'ed its franchises and properties by the decision of |ohn 
Marshall, contributed to by the logic, the eloquence, and the 
tears of Webster, of whom it was the alma mater; and also the 
product of a State which had the same tendencies of political 
judgment, he was naturally a Federalist, and throughout his 
life he was true to his convictions and direct in their expression. 

For a while after he came to the bar he was the partner of his 
cousin. Judge Isaac F. Redfield, who, as author and jurist, 
made an enduring reputation with which all devotees of the 
legal profession are familiar. 

In 1861 came the war, and with it the trumpet blast to us — 
the same scene at every crossroad, village, city, and town 
North and South. Senator Proctor was then 30 vears of age, 
and like the great mass of spirited and patriotic men of his 
times, he joined the colors and the citizen soldiers that were 
trooping to the battle. Lieutenant and quartermaster of the 
Third Vermont Regiment, major of the Fifth, and cjuarter- 
master on the staff of that distinguished officer, Gen. "Baldv" 
Smith, he became in 1862 the colonel of the Fifteenth \'ermont 
Volunteers and shared the fortunes and adventures of a sol- 
dier's life. Stanard's brigade, to which he belonged, became 



Address of Mr. Daniel, oj Virtjinia 25 

justly rt'UowiK-d for its stcadiiu'ss and covragc, and on many a 
field proved its valor and tnduranci-, and won from both fritiid 
and foe the honors which art- inevitably achieved b\- the soldier 
who deser\'es them. 

The American soldiers on both sides at the close of war well 
understood that it destroyed its cause, and that nothing stood 
between them in the nature of things that should repress con- 
cord, nuitual esteem, and friendship. To-day their feelings are 
fulfilled. • 

In 1869 he Ijecanie the manager of a marble company near 
Rutland, which ultimately united with another company of the 
same place and became the \'ermont Marble Conipan\-, with 
Reufield Proctor as its president. 

The business was a small one when he entered it, but before 
he left it it had expanded to a vast enterprise and became the 
largest marble-producing organization in the world, with offices 
in all the great marts of commerce. Like the Baldwin Locomo- 
tive Works, and like indeed nearly all of the mighty organiza- 
tions which have covered our land with industry, it was the ' 
product of small and persistent beginnings and long struggles 
with difficulty, but became a shining illustration of the maxim 
that "labor conquers all things." 

He became a leading and important factor in the ])ublic life 
of his own State, and we note there, too, his gradual and unfal- 
tering progress. A selectman of his town; the representative 
of his county in the legislature; a state senator, and president 
pro tempore of that body; lieutenant-governor of the State, and 
then governor thereof; Secretary of War in the administration 
of Benjamin Harrison; and finally a United States Senator, 
twice elected, he climbed thus the rounds of the ladder by dint 
of the capacity and fitness which made themselves manifest and 
proved their usefulness to the people who selected hi.m. 



26 Memorial Addresses: Redficld Proctor 

Vermont has always been ably represented in the Senate; and 
in Senator Procter's hands that distinction was left undimin- 
ished. 

On the 4th day of March, 1Q05, Senator William B. Bate, 
of Tennessee, vSenator Proctor, and myself were together sworn 
in as reelected Senators. Senator Bate and myself passed out 
of this Hall together toward the front of the Capitol and the 
inaugural ceremony of President Roosevelt. On the way I con- 
gratulated him. upon the honors the State of Tennessee had so 
often conferred upon him, and expressed the hope that he might 
long live to receive them. The jostling crowds passing through 
the Capitol separated us upon the way and, all unconsciously 
to us both, we were separated forever. I never saw his face 
again. In the damp, cold air of that bleak day he contracted 
pneumonia, and I had scarce heard that he was sick when the 
news came that he had passed hence. 

Honored bv the Senate by appointment as one of the com- 
mittee to attend his remains, which were buried in Nashville, I 
there met .Senator Proctor, and together we rode over the field 
of the bloody battle between Thomas and Hood and their valiant 
armies. We there viewed the remains and observed the relics 
of the decayed fortifications, where we were reminded that 
the weapons of war between Americans had perished. We 
exchanged reminiscences and observations of the great conflict 
in which both of us had shared on opposite sides. As we drove 
back to the city, he said to me, somewhat to my surprise: 

I think you will live longer than I, and if I should die liefore you, I hope 
you will attend my funeral. 

I had never been what might be called an intimate of Sen- 
ator Proctor, but I had been frequently and agreeably in con- 
ference or consultation with him about the affairs of the army 
or other matters of interest here, and entertained for him a 



Address of Mr. Daniel, oj Virginia 27 

cordial regard, and 1 was glad to discover in the nature of his 
remark that it was not without reciprocation. I congratulated 
him on his strong constitution and his great power of endurance, 
and expressed the hope that so painful a duty might never be 
mine. But on the third anniversary of the day that Senator 
Bate had contracted the fatal disease that killed him, Senator 
Proctor ceased forever from his earthly labor and passed to 
rest. 

At the time of his fimeral I was sick in bed with an attack 
of grippe, which was prevalent in the city, but I recalled our 
conversation as imposing upon me a sacred obligation, and had 
the mournful satisfaction of discharging it. A snowstorm raged 
from the time we left Washington until his body was deposited 
in his native dust, while the winter winds and the heavy snow 
swept down the valley where his tomb is located. 

At Proctor, the town he founded, I saw the work of his con- 
structive genius in a thrifty community, in the mills for cutting 
stone which he had built there; and also noted the profound 
respect for him which filled the hearts of his neighbors and 
employees who gathered against the storm to pay to his mem- 
ory the last honors which they felt were due to. their benefac- 
tor. It was a picturesque and beautiful scene of industrial 
advancement, comfort, and adornment, as well as a mournful 
illustration of the last scene of all. Model houses had been fur- 
nished to the workers at low rentals; gardens surrounded them; 
a well-equipped hospital which provided free nursing to the 
employees and to their families had been established; accident 
insurance without cost to them had insured wages and medical 
attention in sickness, and in case of death $500 for the care of 
their families; a library and Young Men's Christian Association 
Building had been provided, and there, visible to the eye, was a 
monument of accomplishment and a very nursery of the genius 



28 Memorial Addresses: Red field Proctor 

of initiative effort and labor such as Proctor, the founder, had 
himself exemplified. 

Here in the Senate Senator Proctor had shown a character 
and established a reputation which were like in consonance 
with his antecedents. As a debater, he did not speak frequently, 
but whenever he spoke it was forcibly, aptly, and to the point; 
and when he got through always left a strong impression upon 
the minds of those who heard him. It was said of an English 
king that he never said a foolish thing and never did a wise 
one. Proctor never said foolish things. It was his habit to do 
wise ones. 

I had the pleasure and honor of hearing the speech to which 
his associate referred, upon the conditions in Cuba and our rela- 
tions with Spain. It was a speech comprehensive in its state- 
ments, clear in its argument, and conclusive in the resultant 
good which flowed from it. I have heard many speeches in this 
body, but I can recall none other which was more clearly the 
cause of the result that followed. He was specially useful on 
the Military Committee, for which service both his experience 
as a soldier and as Secretary of War had admirably equipped 
him, and also on the Committee on Agriculture, to which he gave 
particular attention. But Proctor was a man who neglected 
no work, and whatever his hand found to do he did it with his 
might. Many of our recent military reforms he had brought 
forward and advocated. He did much good work also on other 
committees. He revealed no disposition to discuss those deli- 
cate questions which involve sectional relation, and are some- 
times sources of pain to many, however sincerely made, and 
are not often of benefit. There was the dignity of reser\'e, as 
there was force of speech, evinced in his appearances. He 
knew not onlv the power and effectiveness of pertinent utter- 
ance, but he knew also, what some of us may sometimes forget, 



Address of Mr. Daniel, of Virqinia 29 

the power of silence. He was a ri])e man, with a well-trained 
mind, and his experience in the hard struggles and accomplish- 
ments of life had rounded rather than sharpened him. 

In man's fitful journey across the surface of this rugged and 
troubled sphere he can but seldom leave behind him durable 
and beneficent signs of his life work. 

,The myriads come and go without footprints, the worthy and 
useful as well as their opposites; brilliant intellects and elo- 
quent tongues; noble hearts and strong arms; glorious spirits, 
with heavenly aspiration, often rest in unknown graves side bv 
side with those whose lives were unavailing. The man who 
lives long and who also has the good fortune to do something 
by which he may be remembered, even in one of many deeds, is 
the rare man; and he is likewise the exceptionally rare man 
who, passing through the seven ages of man, fulfills to each 
age of life work his worthy and appropriate part. This vSenator 
Proctor did in his family, in his State, and in his country. 
Albeit that his name is interwoven with the texture of the his- 
tory of his State and Nation, albeit he raised many bv merit to 
high trusts, Proctor's name is also identified with manv tasks 
and durable achievements of his private enterprise worthy of 
commemoration, and it is a pleasure to note that an "heir to 
him siicceeding" takes the helm of state and the responsibility 
of business which his father before him had held and borne. 

He who makes two blades of grass to grow where only one had 
grown before is justly accounted the friend of and provider of 
the human family. How much, then, must be esteemed he who 
smites the barren rocks and pours forth from t^em the stream of 
prosperity. He built a town, and established industries in the 
rugged ledges and by the waterfalls of his native streams. There 
to-day are thrifty and happy homes, with strong and hopeful 
hearts, where he led the way of utility, culture, and progress. 



30 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

Here and there are the marble blocks brout^hl forth by the 
alchemy of toil to shapeliness to be turned to gold. Forth from 
the hills of \'ermont go the polished products to build the homes 
and public edifices of a great people. 

Hugh Miller read, as we are told, the "Testimony of the rocks," 
and saw in it the work of the ages long gone by. 

Proctor read the "testimony of the rocks" in his native State 
and saw in them the possibilities and auguries of fruitful days to 
come. 

The genius of organization and the genius of labor are the 
distinguishing marks of our national ascendency and constant 
progression. Organization is the master faculty of the Eng- 
lish-speaking people, surpassed by none of the people of either 
ancient or rhodern times. Here in America that faculty has 
been multiplied in its diversities. 

Labor is the only king of divine right, and from it the master 
faculty has been led forth to unprecedented fruition. 

In his faculty of organization and in his constant toil. Proctor 
proved himself to be the true interpreter of nature and the true 
student of her art. Above the faculties I have noted is the 
master public passion of our race, our country, and our mother- 
lands before us. "We must be free or die who speak the lan- 
guage Shakespeare spoke." A soldier, statesman, and citizen 
who possesses the master faculties of his folk, and their master 
passion likewise, has gone to his honored rest. May his ashes 
rest in peace and his memory be cherished* in the just honor 
which he won, and may the consolation which only He who 
made us, by deeds can give to them, bind the wounded hearts 
of those nearest and dearest to him. 



Address of Mr. Perkins, of California 31 



Address of Mr. Perkins, of California 

Mr. President: 

I-'riend after friend departs. *^ 

Who has not lost a friend ;■ 
There is no union here of hearts 

That finds not here an end. 

For manv years I enjoyed the acqtiaintance and cherished the 
good will and friendship of the one whose memory we meet to- 
day to honor. From him I learned the story of his eventful life 
and experience. 

More than three-score and ten years ago, in the month of June, 
amid the hills of the Green Mountain State, a child was bom to 
Jabez and Betsy Proctor. They called his name "Redfield." 
His boyhood was passed in the town of Proctorsville, Vt., where 
he attended school in the little " red schoolhouse," famous in the 
history of New England. I have never heard that he shone 
there with any particular brilliancy, but it is said that one day 
a phrenologist visited the school, and among all the scholars 
simgled out Redfield Proctor as being phrenologically destined 
to achieve greatness. 

Having received a thorough preparatory education, the youth 
entered Dartmouth College, at Hanover, N. H,, from which he 
was graduated in 1851, in his twentieth year. Here he "toed" 
the football over the campus and got into as inany scrapes as 
most college boys. 

Choosing the profession of law, he entered the law school at 
Albany, N. Y., was graduated in 1859, was admitted to the bar 
of that city and also that of Woodstock, Vt. He was taken into 
the office of his cousin, Judge Isaac F. Redfield, who at that time 
was one of the leading lawyers of Boston. 



32 Memorial Addresses: Rcdfield Proctor 

At the beginning of the civil war Mr. Proctor at once re- 
turned to his native State and enlisted in the Third \'ermont 
Regiment. He served with distinction in the Peninsula cam- 
paign and suffered disabling hardships which made it necessary 
to resign his commission and return home. The next year, hav- 
ing regained his health, he was anxious to return to the front 
and was made colonel of the Fifteenth Vermont Regiment. 

Directlv after the surrender of Lee, Colonel Proctor returned 
to his home in Proctorsville and took up the occupation of farm- 
ing. It is recalled that at this period he was often seen clad in 
a blue-and-white striped frock reaching down below his boot 
tops, trousers tucked in his boot legs, whip in hand, traveling 
beside a pair of large red and white oxen going to his farm land 
in another part of the village. He little knew then that he 
was preparing himself for the duties which devolved upon 
him later in his life as chairman of the Committee on Agricul- 
ture of the United States Senate. 

Several years later he entered into partnership with Col. 
Wheelock G. \'eazey, of Rutland, Yt. Finding the law too slow 
a road to wealth, he became connected with the Southerland 
Falls Marble Company, which in after years developed into the 
Vermont Marble Company, and under his management became 
the greatest marble center in the world. , 

The first public office which Redfield I^roctor held was that 
of selectman of the town of Rutland; the last, that of United 
States Senator, which office he filled from October i8, 1892, 
until his death, March 4, 1908. 

The office of selectman is a minor office, so to speak, yet the 
duties devolved by it subject the incumbent perhaps to a more 
severe ordeal than that to which- some of us who to-day occupy 
positions in the Congress of the United States are subjected, for 
the friends and neighbors of a selectman are not unscathing in 
their criticisms of liis official acts. 



Address of Mr. Perkins, oj California 33 

In the meantime Mr. Proctor had been selected by citizens of 
his State to represent them in the lower and subsequently in tiie 
upper house of the legislature; had been elected lieutenant-gov- 
ernor, and later governor, of Vermont. In March, 1889, -Presi- 
dent Harrison appomted him Secretary of War. His adminis- 
tration has been considered one of the ablest in the history of 
that department, as was so well stated by the Senator from \'er- 
mont [Mr. Dillingham] this morning. 

On the retirement of Senator George F, Edmunds, in 1892, 
Governor Page appointed Secretary Proctor to fill the vacancy 
until the next meeting of the legislature of \'ermont, which 
elected him to fill the unexpired and the full term, the latter 
ending March 4, 1899. He ser\-ed the people of his State so well 
that he was twice returned to this body by an almost unani- 
mous vote of his legislature. 

It is said that in the lives of men who have become great some 
trait of character is dominant. In the case of Redfield Proc- 
tor \X is difficult to say what was his leading talent, for in him 
nature had combined courage, patience, perseverance, endur- 
ance, aggressiveness, loyalty to State and country, intelligence, 
beneficence, and an intense love of nature and of nature's works. 

We, his associates and friends, performed the last sad duty 
of accompanying his remains to his home, and laid him to rest 
amid the snow-covered hills of his beloved \'ermont. The cortege 
passed between thousands of bowed and bared heads, friends 
from all over the State, and of the employees of the \'ermont 
Marble Works, which, as he often said to me, he considered 
"his work" more than any other one thing in the world. There, 
in a section of country with environment and climate for- 
bidding in every way the amassing of great wealth, he made 
the elements his ser\'ants and car\'ed out of the earth a fortune 
and a monument in comparison with which all others dwindle 
78133 — S. Doc. 764, 60-2 3 



34 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

in inijjortance, for not only in one spot alone do we see the evi- 
dences of his untiring ability and financial genius, but in every 
citv, town, and churchyard are monuments which speak in mar- 
ble purity to those who knew him by the name of Redfield 
Proctor. 

In his own little town of Proctor are hospital, church, and 
librar\-, given by him to his people, while near the town of 
Pittsfield rises a marble sanatorium endowed by him for vic- 
tims of tuberculosis, that ravaging disease which is playing 
such havoc, especially in the cold Northern vStates. And yet, 
while the great fortune he amassed to some represents only 
dollars, it really indicates his ability to think better and to see 
farther than others into the future. I have spoken of his mili- 
tarv honors and those which his State and the Nation conferred 
upon him. 

He did not begin life as a poor boy'. He was not a self-made 
man, but came from well-to-do Vermont parents. He often 
spoke of his mother and her wonderful strength of mind; her 
New England thrift, her precepts and examples, which were 
the guide of his future life. 

In spite of all his travels and constant intercourse with the 
most cultivated people, he never forsook the intermingling of 
New England provincialisms with his language, using those 
quaint \vords so typical of New England, which were as charm- 
ing in his conversation and as characteristic of the man as is 
the kilt of the highlander. 

Now, I speak of what is probabl}' considered by many to be 
the greatest event in his governmental career, his visit to 
Cuba, which has been so feelingly referred to by my dis- 
tinguished colleague from Virginia [Mr. Daniel], to see for 
himself the conditions existing there in 1898, and his subsequent 
speech in the Senate, giving to our people a description of the 



Address of Mr. Perkins, of California 35 

horrors he witnessed. Those of us who heard that speech re- 
member with what vividness he portrayed the conditions then 
existing in the island of Cuba. He did not intend at that time 
to deliver as a speech that which he had written, but when he 
came into the Chamber he found there such a mass of expectant 
and breathless auditors, the newspaper press being also repre- 
sented in the gallery and on the floor, that he was impelled to 
speak. I relate that which I know, for he told me many times 
that he did not intend to make the speech, but that there seemed" 
to be such eagerness on the part of Senators to know and to 
hear him tell what he had seen, to learn of his experience's 
on the island, that he could not resist the temptation, and 
so he gave us the never-to-be-forgotten story of his trip. What 
the result was we all know. What would have happened had 
he not visited Cuba and had he not given us his account in 
plain, simple words, with no thought of oratory or embellish- 
ment, we do not know. That he went there to ascertain the 
conditions was evidence of his bravery. That he gave the 
world what he had gained was evidence of his patriotism and 
public spirit. He desired to know the truth, and his abilitv 
to make others see by his words what he had seen with his 
eyes was evidence of his intellectual power. 

His greatest pleasure and recreation were found in the use of 
the gun and the rod. His simple taste made a "nappee" of 
bread and milk in the woods a feast. He loved young people, 
and spent much time with his grandson, Mortimer, teaching 
him to hunt and fish. The haunts of the deer and the salmon 
will know him no more; never again with stealthy tread will 
he stalk the game in the Canadian wilds. His deeds are now 
only a memory. Their results alone live after him. The 
"moving finger" has ceased writing, and we are left to mourn 
the loss of one who, whatever else he was, was every inch a 
man, a statesman, and a gentleman. 



36 Memorial Addresses: Red field Proctor 

May we not learn a lesson from the lives and careers of 
those with whom we have been for many years officially asso- 
ciated, but who have answered the last roll call and passed to 
that bourn whence no traveler returns? 

As the mariner hails with confidence the beacon light that 
guides him safely past the rocks and shoals that menace dis- 
aster, so may we gain wisdom from the knowledge and experi- 
ence of the eminent statesmen whose life work fills some of 
the brightest pages in the history of our country. Then, let us 
gird on the armor of patriotism and inscribe on our hearts the 
motto: 

Show us the truth and the pathway of duty, 

Help us to lift up our banner sublime, 
Until earth is restored to its order and beauty. 

Lost in the shadowless morning of time. 

Teach us to sow the seed of many a noble deed. 

Make us determined, undaunted, and strong, 
Armed with the sword of right, dauntless amid the fight. 

Help us to level the bulwarks of wrong. 



Address of Mr. Clay, oj Georgia 37 



Address of Mr. Clay, of Georgia 

:Mr. President: The first linio I met Senator Proctor was » 
in March, 1897, just before I became a member of the Senate. 
Of course I knew before that time of the public ser\-ices of 
Senator Proctor, for he had been governor of his State, Sec- 
retary of War, United States Senator for six years; besides 
he had been prominent in the counsels of his party for more 
than a quarter of a century. He was a delegate to the na- 
tional Republican convention of 1888, which nominated Mr. 
Harrison for President, and was an ardent and influential 
supporter of Mr. Harrison and contributed materially to his 
successful nomination and election. The conspicuous part he 
bore in this convention attracted the attention of the entire 
country, and it was generally known that he enjoyed the 
confidence of President Harrison throughout his administra- 
tion. But, Mr. President, I desire to speak of Senator Proc- 
tor only after our personal acquaintance and senatorial asso- 
ciations. The distinguished Senators from \'ermont will 
doubtless go into the details of his entire life. 

I remember well that when I entered the Senate the ap- 
propriation bills were referred to and considered by the Ap- 
propriations Committee. These supply bills now carry nearly 
a billion of dollars per annum. Senator Proctor insisted 
that the supply bills should be divided up— the post-office 
appropriation bill to go to the Committee ori Post-Offices and 
Post-Roads, the agricultural appropriation bill to go to the 
Committee on Agriculture, the Indian appropriation bill to 
the Committee on Indian Affairs, the supply bill to support 



38 Mcmon'a! Addresses: Redjield Proctor 

the army to the Coniinittee on ]MiHtary Affairs, and the naval 
appropriation bill to the Committee on Naval Affairs. This 
was a radical change in the policy of the Senate and neces- 
sarilv took from the Committee on Appropriations nearly 
half of the supply bills. Senator ProcT(ir insisted with great 
.energy that no one committee ought to have to deal with all 
of the supplv bills; that this responsibility should be divided 
with other committees and the committee work of vSenators 
equalized. When he first began this fight it seemed ini]ios- 
sible for him to succeed. But he was thoroughlx' convinced 
that he was right, and being a man of strong convictions, 
he knew no such word as failure. He pressed his fight ener- 
getically and continuously for weeks and months until suc- 
cess crowned his efforts. I sympathized with his views and 
gave him niv humble support, and from that day to the day 
of his death we were warm personal friends. He was ever 
readv to practice self-denial when it involved the preferment 
of a friend. I watched his course with peculiar interest and 
pride. He possessed strong convictions and contended with 
all of his energy and powers for the views he entertained and 
the cause he espoused. 

His judgment in business and on public questions was un- 
commonlv good. He possessed a powerful physique, an ex- 
traordinarv intellectual endowment, and was absolutely free 
from insincerity or affectation. He had the happy faculty 
of approaching men in such a manner as to impress them 
favorablv, both as to himself and his subject. I am happy 
to sav that the friendship which sprang up between us nearly 
twfelve vears ago was continuous until the sad day when he 
left us. We did not always think or act together on political 
questions. We belonged to different political parties. We 
often, however, did agree on public questions. While it is 



Address of Mr. Clay, of Georgia 39 

true our lives sometimes ran in diflferent channels, I always 
felt for him, as I believe he did for me, a peculiar attachment. 
I had every assurance that he was m>- friend, and I never 
hesitated to let him know that I was his friend. In all the 
relations of life I found him to be genuine, sincere, and loyal — 
qualities which go to make up the best man can hope to attain. 

I watched his public career with interest. As a Senator he 
was industrious, practical, and successful in whatever he under- 
took. He was a careful, painstaking, forceful, and conser\-ative 
legislator, broad in his views and kind and considerate of others. 
He en jo ved in a remarkable degree the confidence of his colleagues. 
He was a pow-erful factor in molding and shaping public opinion. 
Before the United States declared war against Spain on account 
of conditions existing in the island of Cuba, Senator Proctor 
visited that island, making a most thorough examination of con- 
ditions existing in the Island. He visited all sections of Cuba 
and made himself thoroughly familiar with the misfortunes of 
this unhapp\' people — and when he returned to the Senate he 
was perfectly familiar with the sufferings of this oppressed and 
downtrodden people, and he brought a message to the American 
Senate and to the American people which aroused the conscience 
of this Nation and resulted in bringing about war between the 
United States and Spain. 

He delivered a most remarkable speech in the Senate, !March 
17, 1898, describing pathetically the sufferings of the Cuban 
people. I cjuote briefly a few of his remarks on that memorable 
occasion. 

Senator Proctor said : 

Torn from their homes, with foul earth, foul air, foul water, and foul food 
or none, what wonder that one-half have died and that one-quarter of the 
living are so diseased that they can not be saved? A form of dropsy is a 
common disorder resulting from these conditions. Little children are still 
walking about with arms and chests terribly emaciated, eyes swollen, and 
abdomen bloated to three times the natural size. The physicians say these 



40 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

cases are hopeless. Deaths in the streets have not been uncommon. I 
was told by one of our consuls that they have been found dead about the 
markets in the morning, where they had crawled, hoping to get some stray 
bits of food from the early hucksters, and that there had been cases where 
they had dropped dead inside the market, surrounded by food. Before 
Weyler's order these people were independent and self-supporting. They 
are not beggars even now. There are plenty of professional beggars in 
every town among the regular residents, but these country people, the recon- 
centrados, have not learned the art. Rarely is a hand held out to you for 
alms when going among their huts, but the sight of them makes an appeal 
stronger than words. I went to Cuba with a strong conviction that the 
picture had been overdrawn; that a few cases of starvation and suffering 
had inspired and stimulated the press correspondents, and that they had 
given free play to a strong, natural, and highly cultivated imagination. 
Before starting I received through the mail a leaflet published by the 
Christian Herald, with cuts of some of the sick and starving reconcentrados, 
and took it with me, thinking these must be rare specimens, got up to make 
the worst possible showing. I saw plenty as bad, and worse; many that 
should not be photographed and shown. I could not believe that out of a 
population of 1,600,000, 200,000 had died within these Spanish forts, prac- 
tically prison walls, within a few months past from actual starvation and 
diseases caused by insufficient and improper food. My inquiries were 
entirely outside of sensational sources. They were made of our medical 
officers, of our consuls, of city alcaldes (mayors), of relief committees, of 
leading merchants and bankers, physicians, and lawyers. Several of my 
informants were Spanish born, but every time the answer was that the case 
had not been overstated. What I saw I can not tell so that others can see 
it. It must be seen with one's own eyes to be realized. 

I have endeavored to state in not intemperate mood what I saw and 
heard, and to make no argument thereon, but leave everyone to draw his own 
conclusions. To me the strongest appeal is not the barbarity practiced by 
Weyler, nor the loss of the Maine, if our worst fears should prove true, ter- 
rible as are both of these incidents, Ijut the spectacle of a million and a half 
of people, the entire native population of Cuba, struggling for freedom and 
deliverance from the worst misgovernment of which I ever had knowledge. 
But whether our action ought to be influenced by any one or all of these 
things, and if so, how far, is another question. The large number of edu- 
cated and patriotic men, the great sacrifices they have endured, the peace- 
able temperament of the people, whites and blacks, the wonderful prosperity 
that would surely come with peace and good home rule, the large influx of 
American and English immigration and money, would all he strong factors 
for stable institutions. 

The Senate and the country heard this story of the cruelties 
and wrongs inflicted upon this helpless people, made by Senator 



Addycss of Mr. Clay, of Georgia 41 

Proctor, and after the delivery of that most remarkable S])eech 
there was no longer any doubt that Spanish rule must come to 
an end in Cuba. The United States shortly afterwards declared 
war against Spain, which resulted in establishing Cuban inde- 
pendence. Impartial history has recorded the fact that Senator 
Proctor did more than any other public man to arouse public 
sentiment against Spanish rule in Cuba and in favor of Cuban 
independence and self-government. His powerful speech de- 
scribing the sufferings of the people of Cuba aroused the con- 
science of the American people, resulting in a declaration of war 
against the Government of Spain, which necessarily resulted in 
banishing from Cuba Spanish rule. The people of Cuba now 
have a free and independent government of their own, and are 
making rapid progress in developing the resources of the island, 
and doubtless have before them a happy and successful future. 
The cruelties practiced bv the Spanish Government have ended, 
and a new nation has been born, clothed with the right of self- 
government, and who will deny to the distinguished dead the 
honor which he deserv'es for the great work he accomplished in 
bringing about these results? The good work he accomplished 
for this suffering and oppressed people has given him a fame 
which will never perish. All lovers of justice and liberty will 
continue to sing his praise. 

The citizenship of Vermont is of the highest type. They are 
a practical people, industrious, thoughtful, intelligent, and 
progressive. They never act without thinking. They look far 
into the future, and have been great factors in building up the 
highest and best civilization in the world. They have shown 
by their history that they appreciate the value of long and 
faithful serv-ice by their public men. Senator Morrill was kept 
continuously in Congress for forty-three years and nine months. 
So far as I remember, such public service is without a parallel 



42 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

in the- history of our country. Senator Edmunds served continu- 
ously for twenty-five years, until he resigned his seat in the 
Senate. Senator Proctor had been in public life for nearly a 
quarter of a centurv. Maine, ^Massachusetts, and Vermont have 
been powerful factors in the affairs of this nation since their 
admission into the Union. The people of those States have 
alwavs recognized the value of long and continued services in 
both branches of Congress. These States have sent their ablest 
men to Congress and kept them there, and necessarily they have 
had great and powerful influence in shaping the legislative 
policy of this country. 

After an association of eleven years with Senator Proctor in 
this Chamber, I unhesitatingly say that I found him to be 
strong in his friendships, a broad-minded statesman, a man of 
unijualified integritv, and kind and gentle in all of the relations 
of life. Whatever he undertook to do he did well. He was a 
man thoroughlv in earnest, bold in the execution of his plans, 
and successful in all of his efforts. As chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Agriculture he took great pains to improve the agri- 
cultural condition of the country, and was a warm and stanch 
friend of the Agricultural Department. He used no surplus 
words in debate. 

He readily grasped the strong points favorable to his side 
of the question and presented them with force and clearness; 
and he applied the same methods in business and achieved great 
financial success in his business operations. Before making up 
his mind on public tiueslions he was slow to express an opinion. 
He usuallv went to the bottom of a question, and after becoming 
thoroughlv convinced that he was right it was almost impossible 
to successfully resist his opinions. 

Senator Proctor had passed his three score years and ten, 
but his mental vigor was in no way impaired, and he was recog- 
nized as one of the strong and forceful men of the Senate. His 



Address of Mr. Clay, of Georgia 43 

business life had been crowned with great success. 1 have 
been informed that many years ago he took charge of a remark- 
able industry -that had been wrecked and was hopelessly insol- 
vent. Bv applying close attention to this business, he made 
it the largest and most successful marble plant in the United 
States. He was plain and unassuming, free from deceit, and 
just and considerate in all of his dealings with others. His 
tastes were simple, and he lived close to nature. A perusal of 
the Congressional Record during his seni'ice in the Senate shows 
that a splendid public career ended when he died. 

He was a model citizen and the highest type of a successful 
business man. 

As governor of his State, as Secretary of War, and as United 
States Senator he has can,-ed his name ineffaceably upon the 
records of his State and country. 

Senator Proctor possessed in a remarkable degree the genius 
of common sense. He w-as resourceful and had at his instant 
command all of his faculties. He believed in work and was a 
man of indefatigable industry. He taught the doctrine that 
labor is always rewarded. His life work teaches the American 
vouth that almost any obstacle can be overcome and success 
achieved bv industry. He was no dreamer. Things he did were 
real things. He was the very spirit of the practical. He 
believed in building, planning, and reaping. His career as a 
business man and as a statesman has been most remarkable, 
and the vouth of the country can read and study his life and 
profit bv the lessons he has taught and the success he has 
achieved. When the oppressed needed a friend, his voice was 
raised in their behalf. 

It is some consolation to his friends to realize that he ran 
his race well to the end and that his career was crowned with 
usefulness and success. His manly course has given him a per 
manent place of liigh honor in the history of his country. 



44 Memorial Addresses: Rcdfield Proctor 



Address of Mr. Smoot, of Utah 

Mr. President: On March 4 last, when the flag above the 
Senate Chamber was placed at half-mast, we witnessed the 
emblem of a Nation's grief for the loss of one of her noble, 
stalwart, patriotic sons — Senator Redfield Proctor — the 
Christian, the business man, the soldier, the statesman. It is 
fitting indeed that we, his colleagues, set apart this day to pay 
respect to the memory and to extol the virtues of our friend, 
who has passed the portals of death into a grander and better 
life. Death, the kind friend of man, opened the gate of para- 
disc and God bade his son enter. We bury the body, but the 
immortal spirit — that spark of divinity — lives on forever. A 
noble and well-completed life has been transferred from this 
world to a more perfect sphere beyond. Senator Proctor is 
not dead; he has simply advanced to a higher life. Rather 
would I consider this occasion the celebration of his birth into 
an eternal life than one to mourn his death. All knowledge 
gained, all victories won, and all ideals realized in this life will 
be his throughout all eternity. 

Thank God, no stain of dishonor rests upon the life of our 
departed friend. In it no compromise was ever made with false- 
hood. He worshiped God and loved his fellow-man. He was 
true to everv trust. He was kind and charitable and had every 
respect for the opinions and convictions of others. He was 
true to himself, to his family, to his fellow-man, to his country, 
and to his God. Well may it be said of Senator ProcT(1R, "He 
was an honest man," which is the greatest honor that can be 



Adilrcss of Mr. Smoot, of Utah 45 

bestowed upon an>- num. By honesty I mean more than mere 
desire or abihty to meet all of one's connnercial obligations; I 
mean more than respect for and obedience to law. Millions of 
men mav claim these virtues, yet may not be honest in the 
broadest sense. These are truly desirable attributes; but hon- 
esty means more than all of them, for they may be forced vir- 
tues, or mav be acquired for selfish gain and advantage. Real 
honestv is a God-given gift manifesting itself in every act of 
man toward his fellow-man. It is unselfish, loyal to principle, 
and true to conviction without thought of consequences. I 
repeat, Senator Proctor was an honest man; honest under all 
conditions; honest because honesty was a part of his very 
being. No one ever met him who did not feel he had been in 
the presence of an honest man. His countenance, his voice — 
yes, everv part of him — was typical of his noble character. 

The American people have been benefited by his wisdom, 
which has gone forth in the laws enacted by Congress, in which 
he was so deeply interested. Painstaking in the discharge of 
his public duties, no Member rendered more faithful and effi- 
cient service to his country. We who ser\'ed with him will miss 
his wise counsel and valuable advice. His nobility of character, 
his determined purpose to solve the weighty problems of human 
government, his zealous devotion to the duties of Hfe, public 
and private, constitute a legacy that enriches us all. 

His ambitions in life were realized by his patient, consistent, 
and untiring efforts and by his unceasing diligence and deep 
sense of duty. He rose from the common walks of life to the 
position of business man, state senator, lieutenant-governor, 
governor. Secretary of War, and United States Senator, the 
highest honor within the gift of the people of \"ermont. 

The life work of this splendid American has ended, and he 
will be missed bv familv, neighbors. State, and Nation. Oh, 



46 Memorial Addresses: Redficld Proctor 

what a loving father, a devoted husband, a Christian neighbor, 
a true friend, an ideal American! As long as we believe in 
loyalty to country, in consecrated public serA'ice, in a clean and 
upright life, so long will the life and services of our friend be 
remembered and honored by his people. 

To his family he has left more than a princely fortune, for 
he has left behind a successful life, one that will be an inspira- 
tion to thousands of young Americans, and a demonstration of 
the oft-repeated assertion that position, business success, and 
honor are open to all in this land of freedom, and may be 
acquired \\dthout wronging or oppressing one of God's children. 

Senator Proctor's photograph, among others of the great 
men of this world, hangs in my library. I shall always point 
to it with pride, and tell the story of his life to my sons with a 
hope that it will inspire in them lofty ideals and be an example 
to them of business integrity. His life is the highest type of 
successful American citizenship, and that means the highest 
known to the human family. It can be truly said of our 
departed friend that the world is better off for his having lived 
in it. 

In these days, when newspapers and magazines are filled witli 
sensational stories of dishonesty and dishonor among men of 
all stations of life, people are being impressed more and more 
with the idea that the future success of our Nation depends 
not so much upon the culture, the brilliancy, the learning of its 
leaders in legislative and business life as upon the honesty and 
integrity of their character. Character exemplifies human 
nature in its highest forms. It is the corner stone of individual 
greatness — the Doric column of the majestic structure of a 
true and dignified man, who is at once a subject and a king. 
The true worth of an individual, a community, a nation, is 
measured bv the strength of their character. 



Address of Mr. Smoot, of i'lali 47 

No taint of corruiUion rests on the character of RHni-iivLn 
Proctor. It was without blemish, firm and true, tlie source of 
his liappiness. Neither wealth nor the praise nor the allure- 
ments of this world could pollute it. As long as the affairs of 
this Republic are directed by men of Senator Proctor's high 
character, its future welfare will be assured. 

Mr. President, there is a future, as there was a past, t'.od 
has withheld the recollection of our former existence for a 
wise purpose and mercifully hidden from us the full glory 
of the future. Yet ofttimes a secret something whispers, 
"Vou are a stranger here," and we feel that we have wan- 
dered from a more exalted sphere. This life is but a part 
of the great plan of salvation, which was laid before the foun- 
dation of the world. Our earthly bodies die and return to 
dust, but our spirits are immortal and live forever. No hu- 
man soul is satisfied with the hopeless horror of oblivion. 
It can not be possible that our life is a bubble upon 'the ocean 
of eternity, to float for a moment upon its surface, and then 
to burst into nothingness and darkness forever! To admit 
such a thought is to confess that the human family is damned 
from birth to death. Our destiny is higher than that of earth. 
Death is not so terrible, properly viewed. It is the pleasant 
transitional stage from an earthly to a more perfect life. For 
centuries men have doubted the immortality of the soul. 
But none have approached the Throne of Grace in humble 
supplication who have not received hope and faith and knowl- - 
edge. 

Revelation and reason both assert the same glorious hope. 
Whv, then, should we view death with terror? Ought not 
we rather look forward to it as the final triumph of a well- 
spent life? So I say that the death of our colleague is our 
loss, but his everlasting gain. Our hope of a resurrection is 



48 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

glorious to contemplate, when body and spirit will again 
unite and come forth triumphantly to reap the reward of 
the deeds done in the body and to receive the crown of eternal 
life, which is the greatest gift of God. Let us feel that our 
friend has been given a higher and greater commission, and 
let us have faith that we shall again meet him and have the 
pleasure of his personal association. We will meet him; we 
will recognize him; we will know him. 

I have experienced the sad separation by death of a father, 
and I know the grief it brings. My heart goes out in sym- 
pathy to the widow and family in this their bitterest hour 
of trial. God comfort them and grant His choicest blessings 
upon them. May they seek consolation in the unshaken be- 
lief that God is just and "knoweth best." 

Some time when all life's lessons have been learned, 

And sun and stars forevermore have set. 
The things which our weak judgments here have spurned, 

The things o'er which we grieved with lashes wet, 
Will flash before us out of life's dark night. 

As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue; 
And we shall see how all God's plans were right, 

.And how what seemed reproof was love most true. 

And we shall see how, while we frown and sigh, 

God's plans go on as best for you and me; 
How, when we called. He heeded not our cry. 

Because His wisdom to the end could see. 
And even as prudent parents disallow 

Too much of sweet to craving babyhood, 
So, God perhaps is keeping from us now 

Life's sweetest things because it seemeth good. 

And if, sometimes, commingled with life's wine, ^ 

We find the wormwood and rebel and shrink. 
Be sure a wiser hand than yours or mine 

Pours out this potion for our lips to drink. 
And if some friend we love is lying low. 

Where human kisses can not reach his face, 
O do not blame his loving Father so. 

But wear your sorrow with obedient grace! 



Address of M). Smoot, of Utah 49 

And you shall shortly know that lengthened hreatli 

Is not the, sweetest gift God sends His friends, 
And that, sometimes, the sable pall of death 

Conceals the fairest boon His love can send 
If we could push ajar the gates of life. 

And stand within and all God's workings see. 
We could interpret all this doubt and strife, 

And for each mystery could find a key. 

But not to-day. Then be content, poor heart 1 

God's plans, like lilies, pure and white, unfold: 
We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart. 

Time will reveal the calyxes of gold. 
And if through patient toil we reach the land 

Where tired feet with sandals loose may rest, 
''A'hen we shall clearly know and understand, 

I think that we will say, "God knew the best." 

78133— S- Doc. 764, 60-j 4 



50 Memorial Addresses: Rcdficld Proctor 



Address of Mr. Crane, of Massachusetts 

Mr. President: The death of Redfield Proctor caused 
genuine sorrow not alone within the State of Vermont, where 
he had lived and where his career had been such a source of 
pride and satisfaction to his fellow-citizens, but throughout 
the country. The passing away of such a man is a distinct loss 
to the Nation he has sen.-ed with so much ability for so many 
years. I esteem it a privilege to give public expression of my 
regard for him and of my deep appreciation of his many good 
qualities. 

His was indeed a remarkable career. If any man ever suc- 
cessfully stood the test of service, it was Senator Proctor, who, 
through a long and very active life, let no opportunities for use- 
fulness pass by him. Placed in many positions of great respon- 
sibilitv, he always gave the best that was in him. Essentially a 
man of affairs and possessed of great executive ability, he was 
ever equal to the demand of the hour, .\fter graduating from 
Dartmouth College and the Albany Law School he became for a 
time a resident of my own State and practiced law in the city 
of Boston. It was while he was engaged in the practice of his 
profession there that the civil war began. The call of Abraham 
Lincoln for volunteers met with an instant response from him, 
and he returned to his native State for the purpose of entering 
the armv. He served with distinction through practically the 
entire war, during the latter part being colonel of the Fifteenth 
Vermont Volunteers. He early showed an intense love of 
countrv, which was characteristic of him to the end. 

With the close of the war he returned to Vermont, and for 
fortv years was an important figure in its public life. It was in 



Address of Mr. Crane, of Massachusetts 51 

1867 that he was first chosen a member of the vStatc legislature, 
and from that time honors crowded rapidly upon him. He 
became lieutenant-governor. He made a strong and popular 
governor, and his administration was marked by much important 
legislation passed upon his recommendation. He was an 
efficient Secretary of War under President Harrison, and became 
a United States Senator in 1891. From that time until his death 
he was a hard-working, influential member of this body, and 
impressed himself not only upon his fellow-Senators, but upon 
the country as a man of sturdy common sense, strength of 
intellect, and honesty of purpose. Always alert to promote the 
interests of his State, he was not one who was actuated by sec- 
tionalism, and his efforts were directed toward the progress and 
development of the whole country. The effect of his speech upon 
conditions in Cuba, after personal inspection on the island, will 
not soon be forgotten. His plain, straightforward recital of the 
dreadful suffering there made a profound impression upon his 
countrymen, and undoubtedly exerted great influence in bring- 
ing about American intervention. 

The industry, thoroughness, and painstaking effort which 
were so evident in all of his public life were also shown in his 
business affairs, and under his management the marble works at 
Proctor, \'t., grew from small beginnings to be the largest of the 
kind in the world. Indeed, few men have been able to accom- 
plish so much or have worked in so wide a field. Success 
crowned his labors to an unusual degree. United with great 
ability was an attractive personality. Cordial, heart\', and 
approachable, he was a delightful companion, and he will be 
greatly missed by his associates. 

As we extend our deepest sympathy to his stricken family, we 
can rejoice in the inspiring memory he has left to them and to us. 



52 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 



Address of Mr. Hemenway, of Indiana 

Mr. President: I desire to add a few words of tribute to the 
memory of a great and good man, vSenator Redfield Proctor. 
My acquaintance with him extended over a period of twenty 
years, and the more intimately I knew him the stronger my 
frieridship for him became. He was a man to be trusted and 
loved, and throughout his public career no one could point to 
any act of his that did not reflect credit upon him and upon the 
State which he represented. 

I met Senator Proctor first at the Republican national con- 
vention at Chicago in 1888. He headed the \'ermont delega- 
tion and cast the vote of that State for Benjamin Harrison. 
For this the people of Indiana have always felt grateful to him, 
not only because he supported our candidate for the Presidency, 
but also because it showed his judgment and patriotism in 
throwing his influence for a strong, level-headed, conservative 
man for the Presidency of the United States. 

Harrison's administration will go down in history as one of 
the strong business administrations in the records of our coun- 
try, and in my judgment no higher comphment can be paid a 
President or any other officer of the Government or representa- 
tive of the people than to say he had great business ability. 
For, after all, this Government of ours is nothing more or less 
than a great business concern, and our people will prosper or 
fail in proportion to the extent that this Government is or is 
not conducted in a businessHke manner. When the history of 
the United States is finally written, it will give credit for results 
only, and good results can not be obtained except by the appli- 



Address of Mr. Hemenway. of Indiana 53 

cation of proper business methods. Judged by this standard, 
Harrison's administration will be pronounced a success. In this 
connection Senator Proctor, who served as Secretary of War 
under Harrison, will come in for a large measure of credit, be- 
cause throughout the three years of this administration his 
strong common sense and business ability impressed themselves 
upon the President and all who had to do with national affairs 
at that time. 

While a Representative in Congress it was my pleasure to 
become intimately acquainted with Senator Proctor after he 
had succeeded Senator Edmunds, and on various occasions I 
had the honor of being his guest at his Vermont home. Here I 
learned more of the excellent and noble qualities of this good 
man than I had before known. I visited the large marble works 
of which he was the head, and was deeply impressed with the 
great respect and love that all of his employees had for him. 
He had built up this wonderful industry, employing hundreds 
of laborers, and I found absolute harmony prevailing between 
the employer and employee. There were no strikes, no damage 
suits, no discontent, no jealousies nor ill feelings in this plant. 
Senator Proctor had established it and operated it, not alone 
with a desire for profit, but also with a desire to benefit those 
who worked for him. 

A large store was conducted, and at the end of each year the 
profits of their store were divided among the employees in pro- 
portion to their purchases. He had established a hospital and 
a system of trained nurses, who took care of the sick and injured. 
These nurses not only looked after the employees when sick or 
injured, but visited their homes and took care of any members 
of their family who might need their assistance. He had aided 
the employees in building a magnificent Young Men's Christian 
.\ssociation building, with all modern equipments and conven- 



54 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

iences, and both by precept and example he encouraged those 
who worked for him to higher and better things. 

When I finished my visit through his great marble works I 
concluded that he had solved the problem of harmony between 
employer and employee, and I felt that if his example could be 
extended throughout the whole business world it would solve 
this much-vexed question and result in great happiness and 
prosperitv to those who labor and be the best possible thing in 
the world for those who employ labor. 

Senator Proctor's motive in adopting this plan was not self- 
ish alone, for he was too broad minded and generous to pursue 
selfish ends; but from a financial standpoint he got greater re- 
sults and greater returns because of his fair, honest manner of 
dealing with those who worked for him. He took great pride 
in the fact that in his employ were many grandfathers, fathers, 
and sons. He had learned the great truth that honesty and 
generosity are their own reward. 

Senator Proctor was a typical New Englander, and was proud 
of his State and her traditions, and he came from that great 
New England blood that has given to the United States so many 
of her best citizens. He was a strong Republican in politics, 
but cherished no hatred nor prejudice against those of opposite 
political faith. He gave all men credit for their honesty, and 
in the vSenate of the United States he supported all legislation 
that seemed to him to be for the general good, regardless of 
whether it came from the Democratic or Republican side. And 
as long as there remains in this Senate a man who knew him 
he will be remembered as an able Senator, honest and patriotic 
in all his purposes. In his death the country and his State 
suffered great loss, and I, with many others, was deprived of 
the counsel of a strong personal friend. 



Address oj Mr. Page, of Vermont 



03 



Address of Mr. Page, of Vermont 

Mr. President: It seems to me that no Senator ever lived 
who was a more complete embodiment of the distinguishing 
characteristics of the State which he represented than the one 
to whose memory we to-day pay tribute. No man ever lived 
who was a more genuine type of the rugged strength of our 
Mountain State than Redfield Proctor. 

It would not, in this presence, be fitting to claim for \'ermont 
either stronger or better men than those of her sister States, 
but the occasion would seem to warrant a brief reference to 
some of the more peculiarly distinctive traits which charac- 
terize the men of our State, and to justify an expression of the 
great personal pride which every true \"ennonter feels in those 
sons who possess the qualities of strength, courage, and inde- 
pendence so perfectly exemplified in the life of Senator Proctor. 

The first settlers of \'ermont were largely of Massachusetts 
and Connecticut origin; brave, enterprising men who coveted 
that greater measure of liberty and independence opened up to 
them by the new Connecticut of the North; men who were 
attracted to the new State by the rugged, unbroken wilderness 
which the pioneer spirit prompted them to subdue. To nega- 
tive characters, to the cowardly, the faint-hearted, the weak, 
Vermont offered no attractions. 

The conditions surrounding the early historv of our State 
were absolutely unique. At no time was Vermont a province; 
never did she acknowledge herself the dependency of anv for- 
eign power or recognize the sovereignty of any king, prince, or 
potentate. It was a fact well known throughout the colonies 



56 Memorial Addresses: Red field Proctor 

that the same lands formerly granted by Gov. Benning Went- 
worth, of New Hampshire, were being regranted by Sir William 
Tryon, governor of New York. It required supreme hardihood 
and the greatest personal courage on the part of those men 
who, undaunted b}' the difficulties and dangers of a strenuous 
conflict, left the comparative peace and quiet of the more south- 
ern settlements of New England, to seek out homes in our unbro- 
ken northern forests. 

The mountain State of West Virginia has for the motto on 
its coat of arms the words "^lontani Semper Liberi," moun- 
taineers are always free. The strength, endurance, and freedom 
typified by the mountains do indeed seem to find true kinship 
in the hearts of mountaineers. 

\'ermont's chain of Green Mountains, extending from the 
hills of old Berkshire on the south to the forty-fifth parallel on 
the north and forming the physical backbone of our little State, 
only typifies that moral spinal column which runs through our 
entire state history — a spinal column which, once curved in a 
righteous cause, no amount of sophistry has ever been able to 
reduce. 

Within those bold pioneer settlers who subdued our rocky 
hillside farms, battling with the storms and enduring the hard- 
ships of our northern winters, that inborn spirit of personal 
liberty and stubborn independence, that natural love of right 
and justice, so grew and developed that they became as fixed 
and unyielding as the very hills themselves. 

Capt. Leonard Proctor, the paternal grandfather of Senator 
Proctor, was a pioneer of this type. Having borne a most hon- 
orable part in the war of the Revolution, he came to Vermont 
at the close of that war and settled on the banks of a little 
mountain stream, to which was given the name of Black River. 
Here the village, named for its founder, Proctorsville, was 



Address of Mr. Page, of \'crmonl 57 

planted, and here Redfield Proctor was born. Here he learned 
to fish and trap and hunt. \'ermont had no truer sportsman, 
and his great vigor of body and mind, as many of the older 
members of this Senate know, was in no small measure the 
result of his love of the rod and gun. 

It has been said that every man is the sum of his ancestors, 
and if this be true, Redfield Proctor had a right to be strong. 
His father, Judge Jabez Proctor, was one of the foremost citizens 
of Vermont during the early part of the last century, having 
been a judge of the probate court, twice a presidential elector, 
and several times a member of the governor's council. His 
mother also came of strong ancestry. From her parents sprang 
those distinguished jurists and judges of our supreme court, 
Timothv P. and Isaac F. Redfield, the latter the well-known 
author of standard law works and the chief justice of the 
supreme court of \'ermont. It is not often given to one man, 
as to Isaac Parker, the maternal grandfather of Redfield 
Proctor, to be the progenitor of .a judge and of a chief justice of 
the supreme court, two governors of States, a United States 
Senator, and a Secretary of War. 

Of Redfield Proctor's career as a statesman, of his distin- 
guished service in this body, of the influence of his strong per- 
sonalitv upon legislation and in the national field of politics, 
it is perhaps more fitting that his brother Senators speak; but 
I can not forego a brief word, giving my personal estimate of 
a man upon whose life my own has so closely impinged for 
forty years. 

When in 1891, after twenty-five years of distinguished service, 
that great constitutional lawyer, George F. Edmunds, tendered 
his resignation as United States Senator, it was my privilege to 
appoint Redfield Proctor as his successor. My opinion then 
formed that the mantle of Edmunds had fallen upon shoulders 



58 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

which would wear it with honor to \'ermont and to our country 
has only been strengthened by the events of intervening years. 

His farsighted, comprehensive grasp of affairs, as shown in 
the upbuilding of by far the largest marble business in the 
world, was surpassed by few, if any, of our great captains of 
industrv. He was a tireless worker and a remarkable master 
of details. He was cool, self-reliant, and resourceful in diffi- 
culties, and wonderfully fertile in expedients in every emergency 
calling for leadership. He formed his opinions upon public 
matters with excellent judgment and with an earnest purpose 
to promote what he believed to be the best good of the whole 
people, and from those opinions once ripened into convictions 
he was not easily swerved. 

He was a generous, large-hearted comrade and friend. It 
seemed to those who knew him most intimately that the social 
side of his nature was developed to a degree rarely found in 
men whose lives were packed so full of strenuous effort and 
exacting duties. His inexhaustible fund of humor and of native 
wit inade him a most enjoyable companion. He attached him- 
self to those he loved with hooks of steel, and no man would 
fight harder to promote the welfare of a friend than Redfield 
Proctor. 

During his many years of public scr\'ice, commencing with 
his enlistment in 1861, his patriotic, uncompromising devotion 
to his country's welfare knew no limitations. As soldier, gov- 
ernor. Secretary of War, and Senator he served his State and 
the Nation with signal ability, and in his death the country 
suffers an irreparable loss. 

One of the most commanding figures of our time has gone to 
his rest. He has lived his life, he has fought his fight, he has 
finished his work. In the midst of one of our fiercest mountain 
storms we bore him to his last resting place. For a mile on 



Address of Mr. Page, of Vermont 59 

either side, and forming a double row as guard of honor, stood 
the men who labored in his workshops and in his quarries — men 
who had come to love him with an atTection begotten of long 
years of generous acts and of thoughtful regard for their welfare. 
In a mausoleum built of his own beautiful marble we placed 
his bodv, and there he sleeps beneath the monument erected to 
commemorate his name ; but his life shall have a memorial more 
lasting than the enduring stone, in the hearts of the people of 
that State which he loved and sers'ed so well. 

Mr. President, I ask for the adoption of the resolution which 
I send to the desk. 

The \'ice-PrEsident. The junior Senator from Vermont 
submits a resolution, which will be read by the Secretary. 

The Secretary read the resolution, as follows: 

Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased the Senate do now adjourn. 

The resolution was unanimously agreed to; and (at 2 o'clock 
and 8 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until Monday, Jan- 
uary 11, 1909, at 12 o'clock meridian. 



6o Proceedinqs in the House 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE 

Thi'Rsday, March 5, igo8. 

The House met at 12 o'clock noon. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered the fol- 
lowing prayer: 

We thank Thee, our Father in heaven, for that deep and 
abiding faith with which Thou hast made an integral part of 
our being and which under all the strange vicissitudes of life 
holds us close to Thee and which enables us with courage and 
fortitude to go forward to the daily tasks which come to us 
without fear, since Thou art infinite in wisdom, power, and 
goodness. Thou hast laid a heavy hand upon us in the removal 
of a public servant, whose strong mind and pure heart made 
him conspicuous in the affairs of state and nation. His work 
was of the highest order, his counsels wise and just; he will 
live in the hearts of his countrymen for what he was and for 
what he did, and be an inspiration to those who shall come 
after him. 

Comfort, we beseech Thee, the hearts of his colleagues and 
friends and those to whom he was nearest and dearest by the 
ties of kinship with the blessed hope of the immortality of the 
soul, and teach us all so to live that when our days are num- 
bered we may pass serenely on to that larger life in Thee. 
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Mr. H.'XSKiNS. Mr. Speaker, it becomes my painful dutv to 
announce to the House of Representatives the death of the 
Hon. RedfiELD ProcTdr, senior vSenator from the State of A'er- 
mont, who passed from this life to the life eternal a few min- 
utes before 5 o'clock last evening. In a short time I shall ask 



Proceedings in the House 6i 

this House to set apart a day to pay proper tribute to his life, 
his character, and his distinguished pubUc services. I now 
send to the Clerk's desk resolutions which I ask to have read 
and move their adoption. 
The Clerk read as follows ; 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives has heard with ])rofountl 
sorrow of the death of Hon. RedfiEld Proctor, late a Senator of the 
United States from the State of \'ermont. 

Resohcd, That a committee of six Members of the House of Representa- 
tives, with such Members of the Senate as may be joined, be appointed to 
attend the funeral. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate 
and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the late 
Hon. Redfield Proctor the House of Representatives do now adjourn. 

The Spe.aker. The question will be on agreeing to the reso- 
lutions save the last. 

The question was taken, and the resolutions were unani- 
mously agreed to. 

The Speaker. The Chair announces the following Committee. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Mr. Haskins, Mr. Foster of Vermont, Mr. Parker of New Jersey, Mr. 
IJttlefield, Mr. Lamb, and Mr. Slayden. 

The Speaker. The question is on agreeing to the lasl resolu- 
tion. 

The question was taken, and the resolution was unanimously 
agreed to. 

Accordinglv (at 12 o'clock and 32 minutes p. m.), the House 

adjourned. 

Wed.xesd.w, May 2-j , igo8. 

Mr. Haskins. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for 
the present consideration of the following order, which I send to 
the desk and ask to have read. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Ordered, That the House shall meet at 1 2 o'clock noon on Sunday, 
December 13, 1908, which day and hour is hereby set apart for memo- 



62 Proceedings in the House 

rial addresses on the life, character, and jiublic services of Hon. Red- 
FiELD Proctor, late a United States Senator from the State of Vermont. 

The SPEiftcER pro tempore. Without objection, the order 
will be agreed to. 

There was no objection. 

Thursday, December lo, igo8. 

Mr. Haskins. Mr. Speaker, on the 27th day of last May a 
special order was made by the House setting apart ne.xt vSunday, 
December 13, for memorial addresses upon the life, character, 
and public services of Hon. Redfield Proctor, of Vermont. 
The Senate has postponed action upon their order. I now ask 
that a different order be made, changing it to Sunday, January 
ID, 1909, at 12 o'clock. 

The Speaker. The gentleman asks unanimous consent to 
substitute January 10 for the Proctor memorial exercises in 
lieu of next Sunday. Is there objection? [After a pause.] 
The Chair hears none. 

Sunday, January 10, igog. 

The House met at 12 o'clock m., and was called to order by 
Hon. Alexander McDowell, Clerk of the House, who directed 
the reading of the following communication : 

Spe.^ker's Room, 
House of Representatives, 
W ashinglon, D. C, January 10, iQog. 
I hereby designate Hon. David J. Foster, of Vermont, as Sjjeaker pro 
tempore for this day. 

J. G. C.^.N'NOX, Speaker. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The Chaplain will offer prayer. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered the fol- 
lowing prayer: 

We bless Thee, Almighty God, and adore Thy holy name for 
that spark of divinity which differentiates man from the rest 
of the animal creation and makes him a child of the living God, 



Proceedings in the House 63 

and which has ever been pushing him onward and upward from 
savagery to civilization, from darkness to light, from the ani- 
mal to the spiritual, which brings him nearer to Thee. We 
thank Thee for the strong, the pure, the noble, the brave who 
have left the impress of their characters on their respective 
ages and left behind them their works as a testimonial of their 
worth. 

We are here to-day in the memory of one who was ever found 
in the vanguard of that eternal march — broad in his conceptions, 
strong in his convictions, pure in his motives. As a business 
man, furthering great enterprises, he was ever found pure, hon- 
est, and upright in his dealings with his fellow-men; a soldier 
brave and gallant, who thought it not too much to offer his life, 
if need be, a sacrifice on the altar of his country; a statesman 
strong and wise, serving the people of his vState and \ation with 
singular fidelity and ability wherever he was called to ser\'e. 
We mourn him, but not as dead, for we shall think of him as 
faring on in some one of God's many mansions. "We leave 
this and straightway enter another mansion of the King's, more 
grand and beautiful." 

And now, O God, our Heavenly Father, comfort, we beseech 
Thee, those near to him in the ties of friendship and in the 
bonds of love and affection, that they may look forward with 
bright anticipations to a meeting with him, where they shall 
stay in his presence forever. For Thine is the Kingdom, and 
the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The Clerk will report the order 
for to-day. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Ortkrcd, That the House shall meet at 12 o'clock noon on Sunday, Jan- 
uary 10, 1909, which day and hour is hereby set apart for memorial ad- 
dresses on the life, character, and public services of Hon. Redfield Proc- 
tor, late a United States Senator from the State of Vermont. 



64 Proceedings in the House 

Mr. Haskins. Mr. Speaker, I offer the following resolutions 
and ask for their consideration. 
The Clerk read as follows: 

House resolutimi 481. 

Resolved, That in pursuance of the special order heretofore adopted, the 
House proceed to pay tribute to the memory of the Hon. RedfiEld Proc- 
tor, late Senator from the State of Vermont. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the de- 
ceased, and in recognition of his distinguished career and his great service 
to his country as a United States Senator, the House, at the conclusion of 
the memorial proceedings of this day, shall stand adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House communicate these resolutions to 
the Senate. 

Rcsohrd, That the Clerk of the House be, and he is hereby, instructed 
to send a copy of these resolutions to the family of the deceased. 

The question was taken, and the resolutions were unanimously 
agreed to. 



Address of Mr. Haskins, of Vermont 65 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Haskins, of Vermont 

Mr. Speaker: Since I entered this Hall as a Member of the 
Fifty-seventh Congress the Angel of Death has so often'appeared 
and taken from us some Member of this body or of the Senate it 
would seem that the mortality of its membership had been far 
greater than that in other occupations of life. The emblems of 
mourning and the beautiful flowers are scarcely removed and 
become withered before we behold the like upon the desk of an- 
other loved colleague and friend. But amidst our grief let us 
remember that — 

This is the state of man; to-day he ])uls forth 
The tender leaves of ho|>e, to-morrow blossoms, 
And bears his blushing honors thick U])on him: 
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost. 
And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely 
His greatness is a ri])ening, * * * lie falls — 

Like autumn leaves that enrich our mother earth. 
As our friends, one by one, are called to cross over "the river 
of human years," it is sufficient to remind us that — 

We, too, shall come to that riverside. 

One by one; 
W'e are nearer its waters each eventide. 

One by one; 
We can hear the noise and dash of the stream. 
Now and again through life's deep dream; 
Sometimes the floods all its banks o'erflow. 
Sometimes in ripples the small waves go, 

One bj' one. 

78133— S. Doc. 764, 6o-.' 5 



66 Memorial Addresses: Red field Proctor 

On Wednesday, the 4th day of last March, as the sun was 
sinking behind the western hills, the Hon. Redfield Proctor, 
senior Senator from the State of Vermont, answered the invi- 
tation to "Come up higher," to be numbered with — 

The armies of the ransomed saints 
That throng the steeps of Ught. 

He was here at the Capitol the Thursday previous attending 
to his ordinary duties; but feeling somewhat indisposed, he re- 
turned to his apartments in the Champlain about 3 o'clock in 
the afternoon, retired to his bed, and a physician was summoned. 
His condition was not considered dangerous until a day or two 
before he passed away. His death, therefore, was quite unex- 
pected, except to the members of his family who attended at his 
bedside and those of his most intimate friends. On Friday, 
:\Iarch 6, a committee of the Senate and House were present at 
Proctor, Vt., as the last sad rites were rendered by the living to 
the dead, and saw his mortal remains deposited in the family 
mausoleum, standing within the shadow of the mountains he 
loved so well. That he possessed the respect and confidence of 
the people of his native State is evidenced by his repeated elec- 
tions to positions of high honor and trust. That he was well 
loved was fully attested by the presence at his funeral obsequies 
of more than 4,000 people — representative men from the differ- 
ent walks of Hfe and from every county in the State. "Our 
grand old Senator is gone ; where can we find such another one?" 
is an expression that was frequently heard among those there 
assembled. 

I am not informed that he was connected by membership in 
any particular church organization. This much, however, I can 
say : He was tolerant in his views of all rehgious bodies, gave lib- 
erally to their maintenance and support, observed the Sabbath, 
and bv natural instinct was religiously inclined. How fitting, 



Address of Mr. Haskins, of \'c)moni 67 

then, it is that we meet to speak words in comniciuoration of his 
life, character, and distinguished ser\'ices upon the quiet peace 
of the Sabbath day. 

It had been my good fortune to enjoy the personal acquaint- 
ance and friendship of .Senator Proctor ever since October, 1862, 
being officers and members of the same brigade in the ci\'il war. 
That friendship, highly valued by mc, became more intimate 
during the seven years immediately preceding his death. I 
found in him not friendship only, but the wise and willing coun- 
selor in all matters connected with my official duties here in 
Washington and as a Member of this House. I sincerely be- 
lieved in him. He was faithful and just unto me, and I most 
deeply feel his loss. 

Oh, for the touch of a vanished hand 
And the sound of a voice that is still. 

For nearly fifty years Senator Proctor had been prominently 
identified with the civil, military, and business life of his State 
and the Nation. Therefore, in speaking of him on this occasion 
I feel that little can be said that has not already been spoken 
or written of him since he entered upon his eternal rest. 

He was of English ancestry, the first in his line coming to 
this countrv being Robert Proctor, who was a freeman of Con- 
cord, Mass., as early as 1643. His grandfather, Leonard Proc- 
tor, was an officer in the Continental Army in the war of the 
Revolution, and became one of the early settlers of Cavendish, 
Vt., where he founded the settlement in that town known as 
Proctorsville. He was the son of Jabez and Betsey (Parker) 
Proctor, and was born in the village of Proctorsville June i, 
1 83 1. His early education was obtained in the public schools 
of that place, and he completed his studies at the academy in 
Derby, Vt., preparatory to his entrance in Dartmouth College, 
from which institution he graduated in 1851, and three years 
later it conferred ujion him the degree of master of arts. Choos- 



68 Memorial Addresses: Red field Proctor 

ing the profession of the law, he entered the Albany (N. Y.) Law 
School, graduating therefrom in 1859; was admitted to the bar 
that year at Albany, N. Y., and also at Woodstock, the comity 
seat of Windsor County, \'t. The following year found him 
in the active practice of his profession at Boston, Mass., in the 
office of his cousin, the Hon. Isaac F. Redfield, a former chief 
judge of the supreme court of Vermont. 

In 1 861, upon the secession of the eleven Southern States from 
the Federal Union, and war being declared by the General Gov- 
ernment for the suppression of the rebellion, moved by that 
same spirit of loyalty and devotion to his country that actuated 
his grandfather to go to its defense, and to preserve and per- 
petuate that Union of States secured under the provisions of 
our constitutional charter, he laid aside his books, dismissed his 
clients, returned to his native State, and enlisted in the Third 
Regiment of Vermont \'olunteer Infantry. June 19, 1861, he 
was commissioned first lieutenant and quartermaster of that 
regiment bv the governor, and the following July was appointed 
to the staff of Gen. William F. (Baldy) Smith, where he ex- 
hibited great executive abihty in the organization and prepara- 
tion of raw troops for active ser\-ice. In October of that year 
he was promoted to be major of the Fifth Regiment \'ermont 
Infantry, served with them during that unfortunate and dis- 
astrous campaign of General McClellan in his attempt to reach 
the city of Richmond, Ya., by the way of the peninsula, and here 
he won distinction by the excellent judgment he displayed 
under trving circumstances, his coolness, and bravery. In con- 
sequence of the severe hardships he endured among the mias- 
matic swamps through which he marched and fought in that 
campaign he contracted a serious illness, which compelled his 
resignation, and he returned home to secure restoration of 
health. 



Address of Mr. Haskins, oj Vermont 69 

In the fall of 1862, with health restored, he was again ready 
to enter the sen.-ice of his country, and by reason of his past 
military experience and his then recognized ability to organize, 
discipline, and command, on September 26, 1862, he was elected 
by the line officers of the Fifteenth Regiment of Vermont Volun- 
teers to be its colonel and as such was duly commissioned by 
the governor. This regiment with the Twelfth, Thirteenth, 
Fourteenth, and Sixteenth regiments of \'ermont troops com- 
posed the Second \'ermont Brigade, which, under command 
of Gen. George J. .Stannard, a Vermonter, won imperishable 
renown on the third day of the battle of Gettysburg by their 
gallant and successful assault upon the right flank of the flower 
of the Confederate army under General Pickett in its splendid 
charge of nearly a mile across that blood-stained plain with the 
purpose of breaking through the federal center. Knowing Sen- 
ator Proctor as I did, I have often thought that had he been 
living May 10, 1775, and had arrived at man's estate, he would 
either have led the Green Mountain boys or marched side by 
side with Gen. Ethan Allen in that ever-to-be-remembered 
assault upon the British fortress at Ticonderoga and compelled 
its surrender "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Con- 
tinental Congress." 

Having ser\'ed his country with bravery and distinction in 
the field during the civil war, he again returned to his native 
State, and soon thereafter entered into a law copartnership with 
Col. Wheelock G. Veazey, of the Sixteenth \'ermont I-iegiment, 
subsequently a judge of the supreme court, and for several years 
preceding his death a member of the Interstate Commerce Com- 
mission. They opened their office in Rutland, \'t., secured a 
large and profitable clientage, and took a commanding position 
as a law firm at the bar. Had Senator Proctor continued in 
the practice of the law he would have ranked with the best and 



yo Memorial Addresses: Red field Proctor 

foremost of the lawyers of the State, but he was destined to 
spend the better portion of his Hfe in other and wider fields of 
usefulness and labor. 

In 1869 he was appointed receiver of the Sutherland Falls 
Marble Company, and in settling the affairs of this concern he 
exhibited great capacity for business, which he found more 
congenial than the work in a law office or the trial of causes in 
the courts. In 1880, the affairs of this company having been 
adjusted under his wise management, it was consolidated with 
the Rutland Marble Company under the name of the Vermont 
Marble Company, in which he secured an interest, became its 
president and manager, and under his direction its business 
was increased and enlarged and became, as it still is, the largest 
marble industry in the world. When he entered into public 
life he gave up his active connection and participation with its 
affairs, and since then his son, Fletcher D. Proctor, the last 
ex-governor of Vermont, has been its president and active and 
responsible business head. 

The public career of Senator Proctor commenced in 1866, 
when he was elected one of the selectmen of the town of Rut- 
land. In 1867 and 1868 he was a member of the state legis- 
lature, and the latter year he was a member of the committee 
on ways and means. In 1874 he was chosen to the state senate, 
and was president pro tempore of that body. In 1876 he was 
elected lieutenant-governor for the ensuing biennial term, and 
in 1878 was elected governor for the term of two years. In 
1884 he was a delegate at large to the Republican national con- 
vention. In 1888 he was chairman of the Vermont delegation 
in the Republican national convention that nominated Ben- 
iamin Harrison, and he was also chairman of the delegation 
in the convention that nominated William McKinley for Presi- 
dent. In vSeptember, 1888, he was elected the first re])re- 



Address oj Mr. Haskins, of Vermont 71 

sentative of the new town of Proctor, which the previous legis- 
lature had created and named in his honor. He was unani- 
mously recommended by the members of that legislature for a 
position in the Cabinet, and the following March was appointed 
by President Harrison as Secretary of War. In that position 
he won a national reputation by his conduct of the office. Under 
his administration that department was placed on a strictly 
business basis. He was painstaking and methodical in what- 
ever he did or directed to be done by others. He was an able 
and trusted counselor of the President, and his opinion upon all 
public questions had great weight with his associates assembled 
about the cabinet table. 

In November, 1 891, he resigned his office of vSecretary of War 
to accept an appointment to the United States Senate to fill 
the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. George 
F. Edmunds; was elected United States Senator by the legis- 
lature in October, 1892, and was reelected in 1898, and again 
in 1904, and had he lived his term would not have expired until 
March 4, 191 1. During his senatorial career he served upon 
many important committees, notably those of Agriculture and 
Forestry, of which he was many years the chairman, ^lilitary 
Affairs, Post-Offices and Post-Roads, Fisheries, and Revision of 
the Laws of the United States. It is in the committee room 
that the greatest and most important legislation is done, and it 
was here that Senator Proctor performed his most laborious 
work, and did it with such efficiency and faithfulness that his 
recommendations were rarely questioned. I have often heard 
it remarked by conferees of the House who had been in confer- 
ence with him over some disagreeing vote of the two bodies that 
they generally found themselves agreeing with him by reason 
of the clear, concise, and convincing argument he was always 
prepared to present in behalf of the Senate's contention. 



72 Memorial Addresses: Red field Proctor 

He was not an orator according to the general acceptation 
of the word. He never talked to the galleries, nor was he ever 
known to play to the grand stand. It was but occasionally he 
participated in the debates of the Senate, but whenever he did 
he was thoroughly equipped, and spoke with deliberation and 
from a high sense of duty. He had made careful study of the 
Constitution of the United States and the debates of the able 
men who composed the convention that wrote and adopted it. 
He recognized to the fullest extent the absolute independence 
of each of the three coordinate branches of government, and 
could not brook any attempted interference by the one with the 
well-defined duties and prerogatives of either of the other. 

On the 22d day of last February, after the Farewell Ad- 
dress of George Washington to the American people had been 
read in the Senate, at the invitation of vSenator Proctor I 
lunched with him, and while waiting to be served he gave me 
a printed copy of that address, ■ which I have since retained, 
having that portion wherein he warned his countrymen of the 
danger which was likely to come to the Nation from an unwar- 
ranted interference by the Executive with either of Jhe other 
branches of the Government marked with heavy black pencil 
lines. He was a man of strong convictions, and while he was 
gentle in disposition as a lamb he had the courage of a lion. 
No one ever knew him to — 

Crook the pregnant hinges of the knee 
That thrift may follow fawning. 

Whenever Senator Proctor addressed the Senate upon anj' 
important and far-reaching proposition his speeches were pre- 
pared with great care and delivered without the least sem- 
blance of passion, but in the most quiet manner and without 
any attempt at display. It was not his purpose to stir men's 
blood, but to appeal to their reason and better judgment. In 



Address of Mr. Haskins, of Vermont 73 

January, 1897, the Senate having under consideration a pro- 
posed amendment to the Constitution providing for a presi- 
dential term of six years and rendering him ineligible to a 
reelection, he delivered a speech in favor of the projwsition 
that gave him high rank in statesmanship. He insisted that 
reeligibility was wrong in theory and vicious in practice, inas- 
nuich as it resulted in making use of the patronage of the office 
of the President for the promotion of his renomination and 
reelection, or, at least, subjected the President to the impu- 
tation of such use; that the proposed amendment if adopted and 
ratified would thoroughly divorce the legislative and executive 
branches of the Government, so earnestly desired and fully pur- 
posed by the framers of the Constitution. He strongly insisted 
that— 

The verj- basis of the Constitution is the complete separation of the 
legislative and executive powers. 

As a further argument in favor of the amendment, even 

though a President did not aspire for a reelection, the fact that 

he was eligible, he urged — 

Promotes captious criticism. It induces distrust of the President's 
disinterestedness and patriotism, and it belittles and detracts from the 
dignity of the office itself. And not only does it weaken the President 
and his administration at home, but the possibility of reeligibility actually 
weakens the effectiveness of our foreign policy. In the beginning of our 
present Venezuelan crisis the common comment abroad upon the patriotic 
position taken by the President was that it was an electioneering dodge. 
Thus does the world discount an official expression of the patriotic senti- 
ment of our people because, in view of the possibility of the reelection of 
the President, the outside world also has become accustomed to Iwok to 
that fact for the deejjest motives of a President's actions. 

And in conclusion he said: 

In what I have said of the dangers of the present situation, I speak 
with great deference of the great men who have been candidates for reelec- 
tion. I doubt not but that they have been as little influenced and con- 
trolled by the selfish considerations mentioned as one placed in so incon- 
sistent a position could be. The difficulty, however, is that the position 



74 Memorial Addiesses: Red field Proctor 

• 
is inherently an inconsistent and antagonistic one. One person can not 
in the nature of things be at the same time a perfect President and a 
presidential candidate. I believe that the people are becoming more and 
more dissatisfied with having the high office of President used, or having 
it possible to use it, to prolong the incumbent's tenure. They are becom- 
ing more and more dissatisfied with seeing presidential campaigns run 
from the White House. It will be tried just as long as it is possible. It 
will only cease when the Congress and the States by constitutional amend- 
ment return to the spirit of the Constitution and the original plan of the 
framers. Then no personal ambition of a Chief Magistrate can ever com- 
pete with his ambition to serve his country well and leave an honorable 
record for his administration. 

These are strong words and never would have been uttered 
by a timid, tinie-sen,-ing man. In this instance they came from 
a man of courage, one who loved his country and spoke from a 
sincere desire to proinote its best interests in the long future. 

Another speech, characteristic of him and a conspicuous in- 
stance of his power and influence, was delivered in the Senate 
March i6, 1898, soon after he had returned from Cuba, where 
he had been for the purpose of informing himself as to the true 
condition of affairs in that island. What he saw there he told 
the Senate, and through that body the whole world was made 
acquainted with the frightful conditions then existing. This 
speech thoroughly aroused the indignation of the people of the 
entire country, and they firmly resolved that the good right arm 
of the Government should be used to wipe from off this hem- 
isphere the last vestage of Spanish cruelty and oppression. The 
speech was widely circulated; and while there was nothing in 
the least sensational about Senator Proctor, it created the most 
intense sensation throughout the length and breadth of the land, 
and had much to do toward hastening the beginning of that 
short and decisive warfare between us and the Kingdom of 
Spain. It has been claimed by some that this speech was his 
greatest effort; it was carefully prepared, and he read it from 
manuscript. In speaking of Senator Proctor the evening of 



Address of Mr. Haskins, oj Vermont 75 

his death ex-Senator Chandler, of New Hampshire, is reported 

to have said: 

Cuban freedom owes much to Redfield Proctor. It was my happy 
fortune to be presiding in the chair of the Senate when he narrated in 
simple but powerful language his observations in Cuba, where General 
Weyler's cruelties were arousing the United States. This speech pre-i 
cipitated our declaration of war against Spain and was the great polit- 
ical act of Senator Proctor's long and useful life. 

. For the future stabiUty and prosperity of our beloved country, 
yea, to its everlasting honor, one may well hope that oud citizen- 
ship of to-day and that which shall come after us, and especially 
those who shall be advanced to public station, may be as thor- 
oughlv equipped with that rugged honesty, patriotic devotion to 
country, and courage to say and do the thing that is right as 
was so beautifully exemplified in the life, character, and public 
services of the Hon. Redfield Proctor, of Vermont. 

Senator Proctor was married May 26, 1858, to Miss Emily J. 
Button, daughter of Hon. Salmon F. and Sarah J- Button, of 
Cavendish, Vt., and five children were bom to them. He is sur- 
vived by his widow, two sons, Fletcher B. Proctor and Redfield 
Proctor, and one daughter, Emily B. Proctor, who mourn the 
loss of a kind husband and indulgent father. He was fortunate 
in business and accumulated a large estate, but his benevolence 
was unlimited, as his munificent gifts to the town of Proctor and 
to his State fully attest. 

His work is done. The trust he held so many years is at an 
end. He has laid aside his cares forever, and his mortal remains 
now rest in peace in his Green ^Mountain home. His spirit, the 
immortal part of man, has gone up on high, but the memory 
of him remains with us still. Who will be the next to join him 
none of us can say. But we feel the assurance that we shall 
meet in that "better land," and we can comfort ourselves with 



76 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

the belief that the last of earth is but the beginning of everlast- 
ing life. 

We are nearer liome to-day 
Than we've ever been before; 
Nearer our Father's house, 

Where many mansions be, 
Nearer the great white throne. 

Nearer- the crystal sea, 
Nearer the bounds of life. 

Where we lay our burdens down; 
Nearer leaving the cross. 

Nearer gaining the crown. 
Father, be near when my feet 

Are slipping o'er the brink. 
For it may be I am nearer home. 

Nearer now than I think. 



Address oj Mr. Scott, of Kansas 77 



Address of Mr. Scott, of Kansas 

Mr. Speaker: It is a common saying that in America every 
political career is a tragedy. Like many other broad generaliza- 
tions the saying is not to be taken as literally true. And yet there 
are so pitifully many instances in which it is true that the excep- 
tions, when by some happy chance they do occur, always chal- 
lenge our attention. The rewards of public life — not the 
financial returns, for in the main they are meager, but the 
rewards that are found in the opportunity to serve one's friends 
and one's country, in the rare privilege of association with the 
"choice and master spirits of the age," in the intimate contact 
with large affairs, in the satisfaction of having a hand in the 
shaping of big events — all these combine to give an allurement 
to public life which is sufficient to attract men of the first class 
in character and ability to the public ser\-ice. And so the ranks 
are alwavs full. From every walk of life they come— because 
in America there is no office-holding caste — from the pulpit and 
the platform, from the bench and the bar, from the farm and the 
forge, from the store and the countinghouse and the factory, 
from every class and calling, from every trade and occupation, 
the fascination of public life draws them. Earnest, honest, 
high-minded men they are, with exceptions so few as to be 
negligible; men sincerely desiring to play their part well, to 
serve their fellow-men truly, to deserve well of the Republic, 
and to build for themselves an honorable fame. 

Their work begins, and with every day of its continuance 
there is a consciousness of growing power that it is sweet to feel. 
With every year there is a broader outlook and a stronger grasp. 



78 Memorial Addresses: Red field Proctor 

And with every year also the lure of the life grows stronger and 
ambition mounts higher. And then comes the end. A new 
issue arises, or a new party comes suddenly into popular favor, 
or people get "tired of hearing Aristides called The Just," and 
the fair house, which the man had builded of hopes and aspira- 
tions and ambitions, comes tumbling about his ears. When he 
seems at the very climax of his powers, when he is nearer than 
ever before to doing the great things he had longed to do, or 
when, perhaps, the grand prize toward which for years he had 
been bending every ambition seems fairly within his grasp, the 
blow falls, and the scepter is stricken from his hand. That is 
the common lot; that is the average career in American politics, 
and who shall say it is not a tragedy? 

But now and then, to one man or two in a decade or in a 
generation, there falls a happier lot. Now and then a career is 
run, even in this shifting and turbulent ocean of American 
politics, which seems to find throughout its entire course only 
smooth seas and favoring breezes. Now and then destiny seems 
to choose a favorite to whom it permits nothing to be denied, to 
whom come place and power to match ambition, to whom oppor- 
tunity, instead of being a rare and haughty visitor, is a per- 
petual bond servant, at whose approach all doors, unbidden, 
stand ajar. 

To this exceptional class without doubt belongs the remark- 
able career of Redfield Proctor. In war, enlisting as a pri- 
vate, commissioned almost immediately as a lieutenant, he 
passed easily and rapidly through the inter^'ening grades to the 
head of the regiment. In peace, the record, as we have just 
heard it given by his distinguished colleague on this floor, is even 
more remarkable. Selectman in the common council of his 
home city, member of the state legislature, member of the state 
senate, lieutenant-governor, governor. Secretary of War, vSenator 



Address of Mr. Scott, of Kansas 79 

of the United States, first by appointment and three times after- 
wards by election, in the intervals of public service accumulating 
by private enterprise an ample fortune. Forty years and more 
of unbroken triumph. Surely a fortunate and happy career, for 
the record does not disclose a single important reverse. 

But because the word "fortunate" comes readily to the mind 
as we contemplate this long succession of unbroken victories, let 
it not be imagined that these victories are to be attributed to 
mere chance. An enlisted man, even in a volunteer regiment, 
does not in a single year mount to a colonelcy by chance. The 
old Green Mountain State, filled as it is with keen, clear-headed, 
well-trained men, does not trust to luck for its lawgivers, its 
governors, its representatives in the Senate of the United States. 
No, it is only remarkable qualities that can account for this 
remarkable career. 

There was the physical endowment to begin with — the tower- 
ing frame and the faultless organism handed down through long 
generations of men and women who worked hard and lived 
soberly and feared God. 

And then there was the quick and powerful and finely bal- 
anced intellect, trained in the best schools of his day, trained 
in the study and practice of an arduous and exacting profession, 
trained in the transaction of great business affairs, trained in 
the incessant clash and conflict of a mighty forum. 

And then there was the steadfast soul, to which doubt and 
fear were equal strangers, which the terrors of battle could 
not shake, nor the luxuries of peace debase, which disappoint- 
ment could not embitter, nor success unduly exalt. The soul 
of— 

One who never turned his back, but marcheti breast forward; 
Never doubted clouds would break ; 

Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph; 
Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better. 



8o Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

And crowning all there was integrity, so native to the man, 
so ingrained with every fiber of his being, so clearly a part of 
him that men never thought to inquire about it. So far as I 
can learn, throughout all the long years during which he 
walked in the white blaze of public life it was never questioned, 
even by those who might have profited by such questioning had 
there been the least basis upon which it could rest. 

Physical strength and courage, a trained and powerful mind, a 
soul captain always of itself and without fear, a character spot- 
less and unassailable — that was the superb equipment with 
which this friend of ours, this great man, was panoplied. What 
wonder is it that in war and in peace victories came easily. He 
conquered by the inevitable operation of the implacable law 
which gives to him that hath, even as some are doomed to de- 
feat by that same law which taketh away from him that hath 
not. He understood well the apparent paradox of the Waster, 
" He that would be chief among you, let him become the servant 
of all." His life was given to the service of his fellow-men, and 
because he could render the greatest service he took his place 
among those who sit in the seats of the mighty. 

My association with Senator Proctor was for the most part 
purely official, brought about through our membership on corre- 
sponding committees in the House and Senate, and therefore 1 
can not claim that intimate acquaintance which would authorize 
me to speak of his home life or the qualities which have their 
source in the heart rather than in the head of a man. And yet 
I recall one glimpse into this sacred inner chamber which I can 
not but believe revealed qualities and characteristics which had 
their permanent abiding place there. 

It was when I offered him my congratulations upon the elec- 
tion of his son to the governorship of Vermont, remarking as I 
did so the satisfaction a father must feel when one of his chil- 



Address of Mr. Scott, of Kansas 8i 

drcn is so honored. Instanlly there came a look of tenderness 
into his eyes that I had never seen there before. The rugged 
rough-hewn face, which I could never look upon without think- 
ing of the granite hills among which he was born, softened 
into a smile that transformed it, and with a voice which made 
no attempt to conceal his emotion he thanked me and added: 

My own career has been a fortunate one; but I can say with all candor 
that no honor that ever came to nie, no political victory of ray own, ever 
brought me a tithe of the satisfaction I have felt in the success of my son. 

And so he was thrice fortunate — fortunate in the possession 
of rare faculties, fortunate in finding his way easily into just 
that department of public life which afTorded the best field 
for the exercise of those faculties, fortunate in realizing to 
the full a father's hope and pride. Surely fife was kind to him. 

But may we not say also that death was kind to him? 

O eloquent, just, and mighty death — 

Apostrophizes Sir Walter Raleigh — 

O eloquent, just, and mighty death! Whom none could advise, thou 
hast persuaded; what none hath dared, thou hast done; and whom all 
the world hath flattered thou only hast cast out of the world and 
despised. Thou hast drawn together all the far-stretched greatness, all 
the pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it all over with 
these two narrow words, "Hie jacet" 

That is the common conception of death — grim, relentless, 
terrible. 

But to this friend of ours surely he was not so. 

Senator Proctor had lived his life — a long life, filled with 
triumphs, but filled also with many labors. In war and in 
peace he had served his country well. The cliinax of his 
powers and of his achievement had been reached, and while his 
interest in life had not flagged nor his mental grasp appreci- 
ably weakened, yet he could not but realize the abatement of 
his bodily strength. Had even another decade been granted 
78133 — S. Doc. 764, 60-2 6 



82 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

him he could hardly have hoped to build any higher the fair 
temple of his fame, while the added years might have brought 
him, almost certainly would have brought him, added infirmities 
and the grief which can not but oppress the man who has been 
strong when he is forced to realize that the days of his strength 
are gone. How could death have been kinder to him than to 
come when it did, swiftly and with little pain, while the sun 
was still shining, while he was still surrounded with "honor, 
love, obedience, troops of friends," while large affairs were 
still within his grasp, while the harness of duties which long 
use had made essential to his happiness was still upon his 
shoulders? To such a man, coming at such a time, Death was 
a friend and not an enemy, bearing in his hand, not the sickle 
of destruction, but the scepter of immortality. For "to him 
who meets it with an upright heart," death is — 

A quiet haven, where his shattered bark 
Harbors secure, till the rough storm is past. 
Perhaps a passage, overhung with clouds 
But at its entrance; a few leagues beyond 
Opening to kinder skies and milder suns, 
And seas pacific as the soul that seeks them. 

Remembering, therefore, the quality of his life and the man- 
ner of his death, may we not say of Redfield Proctor, as 
Bunyan said of Valiant-for-Truth — 

And so he passed over; and all the trumpets sounded for him on 
the other side. 



Address 0/ Mr. Lamb, of Virginia 83 



Address of Mr. Lamb, of Virginia 

Mr. Speaker: In Iht- death of vSenator Proctok the Com- 
monwealth of Vermont lost one of her most useful and distin- 
guished citizens, the Senate of the United vStates one of its 
efficient and active Members, and the country at large a states- 
man who had served his country well and faithfully. 

As member of the house of representatives of his State, and 
state senator, and president of the body; as lieutenant-governor 
and then governor of Vermont, he measured up to every duty 
and responsibility imposed by a loyal and confiding people. 
Appointed Secretary of War by President Harrison in March, 
1889, he discharged the duties of this high position with great 
credit until 1891, when he resigned fron\ the Cabinet to accept 
the appointment as United States Senator to succeed George F. 
Edmunds. In October, 1892, he was elected by the Vermont 
legislature to fill both the unexpired and the full terms; was 
elected October, 1898, to succeed himself, and reelected October, 
1904. 

Our colleague, after a long and useful life, fell asleep with his 
harness on. 

I can testify that he was vigilant, active, and efficient. For 
several years I was thrown with him in conference of the two 
Houses on the agricultural bill. 

Everything affecting the various interests of the farmer was 
carefully considered. The Department of Agriculture had in 
Senator Proctor an earnest supporter, who looked carefully 
into every provision of the bill for its maintenance. His strong, 
practical mind and business habits enabled him to grasp the 



84 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

salient ]ioints in every problem with perfect ease. His large 
experience in life gave him a breadth of view that made him 
agreeable and pleasant in conference, as well as liberal and fair 
minded in settling all differences between the conferees of the 
House and »Senate. 

Senator Proctor was a soldier as well as a statesman. He 
was deeply interested in everything pertaining to the heroic 
struggle of 1 861-1865. He held in memory interesting reminis- 
cences of that period and related the same with zest and 
earnestness. He was a staff officer, and held the rank of major 
and then of colonel in the Federal Army. I did not have the 
honor of his acquaintance during those days, although I was 
doubtless often close to him in a sense. It would have been a 
pleasure then to entertain him, as I often did some of his 
comrades. 

On one occasion this hospitality was reciprocated, and I was 
reminded of this at Proctor\alle when I attended the funeral 
of our colleague, for there I met the aged General Howard, of 
the Eleventh Corps, whose guest I was at Harpers Ferry. It 
was a great pleasure to see him again under circumstances not 
quite so embarrassing. 

The cordiality and friendship between the surviving officers 
and soldiers of two contending armies years after the conflict 
had ended is something unique in the world's history. Could 
the settlement of the conflicting interests of the sections have 
been committed entirely to the citizen soldiery of the two 
armies, a perfectly amicable adjustment would have been 
made within a few years after the termination of the struggle. 

Senator Proctor was a soldier from necessity, and his 
environment placed him in the federal column. Had he been a 
native of Virginia or Mississippi, with his strong convictions 
and high sense of duty and devotion to his State, he would have 



Address oj M> . Lamb, of Virginia 85 

been with the vanquished instead of the victors on the heights 
of Gettysburg. 

Life is full of compensations, Mr. vSpeaker, and one of the 
manv that comes to a patient and self-denying Representative 
here is the firm and fast friendships formed with our colleagues. 
Men of different sections, raised under entirely different en- 
vironments, differing in thought and sentiment, are thrown 
together and learn to respect the opinions and admire the 
qualities of mind and heart of those whom they had previously 
misjudged or looked upon with indifference. Respecting Sena- 
tor Proctor for his manly qualities, I soon learned after being 
thrown with him closely that he possessed virtues of mind and 
heart that easily accounted for his rapid promotion in political 
life as well as his exceedingly prosperous business career. 

I happened to be one of the House committee to attend his 
funeral at Proctonille, Vt. It was a sad and impressive scene. 
A great concourse of people were gathered, including jurists, 
statesmen, lawyers, civil- war veterans, and business associates. 
The church was too small to accommodate the hosts of friends 
who wished to attend the ser\-ices. Three thousand employees 
of the Vermont ]Marble Company were there to pay their respects 
to a departed friend and benefactor. They stood with un- 
covered head in the face of a New England blizzard that sung 
a mournful dirge as if in sympathy with the King of Terrors, 
who had struck down Vermont's foremost citizen. 

The ser^-ices were very simple, but impressive. Included in 
the pallbearers were two sons, one of them the governor of the 
State. This custom, unknown in my section, impressed me 
deeply. To mv mind came the thought that better than honors 
and riches he had won; better than large wealth such as he had 
acquired; yea, better than the benefactions he had been able to 
bestow upon the hardy yeomanry who lined up on the roadside 



86 Memorial Addresses: Red field Proctor 

to pay their last respects, was the deep satisfaction he enjoyed 
in these devoted sons, who, holding up his hands in life, piously 
bore his remains to their last resting place. 

I can not better close this brief tribute to my friend and col- 
league than by quoting a just and eloquent tribute paid him by 
one of the Vermont papers at the time of his death : 

In the fullness of years, crowned with honors seldom bestotved on any 
man, beloved throughout his native State that he has so ably and faithfully 
served, honored and respected by his countrymen and the whole world, 
he has entered into that rest prepared for the faithful of earth's mortals, 
and his works shall live after him as a fitting and everlasting memorial. 



Address of Mr. McCall, of Massachusetts 87 



Address of Mr. McCall, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker: I feel it my duty to take the floor to speak 
a word of tribute to the memory of a friend whom I loved, 
and to express allso my sense of the loss which the country 
sustained by the departure of a statesman who had rendered 
her distinguished service. It was my good fortune to be well 
acquainted with Redfield Proctor. He and I were graduated 
from the same college, and it was to this circumstance, doubt- 
less, that my opportunity to know him well was due, for he had 
a way of extending a species of kindly and genial guardianship 
over all who bore to him any of the ordinary relations of life. 
We were separated, however, in college by a good many years, 
for he graduated in the year in which I was born; but his was 
one of those rare spirits endowed with perennial youth, and dis- 
parity in years made no difference with him. He had that 
quality of freshness and kindliness in his intercourse with men, 
that fountain of gayety that made him attractive to those who 
were younger as well as to those who were older than himself. 

I was able to understand him better because 1 had been 
much in the State, the ideal little Commonwealth which he 
represented here. Upon a landscape of unsurpassed beauty 
there dwell in Vermont a people of heroic mold. Her popula- 
tion is made up perhaps in larger proportion of the old Revo- 
lutionary stock, of men who were identified with the first 
settlement of this country, and who fought the war which 
established our independence than that of any other State of 
the North, and possibly of any other .State in the Union. She 
has a history of remarkable charm — worthy of the race which 



88 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

inhabits her noble hills and beautiful valleys. We admire the 
heroism of those men of Vermont who, in 1775, asserted their 
independence, not only of Great Britain but also of the other 
colonies, and especially of the two or three neighboring ones 
which claimed sovereignty over her territory. \'ermont was a 
little republic in herself, independent of all the rest of mankind, 
and when it seemed best to join with the other colonies to fight 
the common foe her people did not even stop to pass the code 
of laws which were necessary for governing their territory, but 
they first devoted themselves, and with supreme effect, to the 
great struggle out of which the Nation came. 

Redfield Proctor was the very fitting product, I might say 
the fine flowering out, of that race. He had conspicuously the 
qualities which it had displayed. He had great intellectual 
power, a talent for affairs, good sense, good humor, and, above 
all, a kindly heart. I remember well his service in the Repub- 
lican national convention in 1888, when he was chairman of 
the delegation from his State and displayed his characteristic 
political sagacity. There were many candidates before that 
convention, and there was no candidate who commanded the 
undivided support even of the delegation from his own State; 
but I remember distinctly how JMr. Proctor on each vote, as 
chairman of the delegation, announced that \'ermont cast her 
eight vot-es for Benjamin Harrison. It was the only State that 
cast its vote solidly upon every ballot for Benjamin Harrison, 
and he was finally the nominee of the convention. It was very 
fitting and proper that Redfield Proctor should be made a 
member of Harrison's Cabinet, and he served there with great 
distinction and with great benefit to the country. 

His colleague in this House, who has just spoken, has referred 
in his eloquent address to some of Redfield Proctor's notable 
speeches in the Senate. I recall another speech which made a 



Address of Mr. McCall. oj Massachusetis 89 

deep impression upon my mind, and I believe made a deep 
impression upon the country. It was his speech in favor of 
free trade with Porto Rico. Senator Proctor did not believe 
that there should be any tariff barriers imposed between one 
part of American territory and another part, and he was espe- 
cialh' strong in that speech in recalling the old spirit which 
prevailed at the time of the establishment of this Government 
and in portraying the ideal wrong of our Republic imposing 
taxation upon an unrepresented people. 

He was not a spectacular but he was a safe leader — a quiet 
and effective manager of things and men. He left a permanent 
impress upon his State. I believe his influence was more com- 
prehensive and far-spreading and that it can fairly be said that 
he left a permanent impress upon the history of his tirne. 



go Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor' 



Address of Mr. Foster, of Vermont 

Mr. Speaker: Among the cherished recollections of my asso- 
ciation with Senator Redfield Proctor is the memory of a 
visit I had with him one Sunday afternoon. It was one of 
many which it was my privilege to enjoy near the close of his 
long and eventful career. The evening shadows were rapidlv 
gathering about him. Calm and serene, conscious of a life 
well lived, a work well done, in full possession of his every men- 
tal faculty, he awaited the call which he knew he would soon 
hear. With that perfect self-poise with which he had faced 
every crisis in his life, he discussed the mystery which we call 
death, and declared that for him it had nothing of dread, noth- 
ing from which he shrank. He was indeed glad to live, but 
no Grecian philosopher or Hebrew prophet ever approached 
the inevitable fate of man with more of the spirit of one "who 
wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to 
pleasant dreams" than did he. 

In the course of his conversation on that occasion he recalled 
his mother and related many striking incidents in her life illus- 
trative of those qualities of heart and mind which made her the 
remarkable woman that she was. He described how, a mother- 
less child of ten, she assumed and discharged toward her 
younger brothers and sisters, including .a babe in arms, a 
mother's responsibility. He dwelt upon her character, her 
masterful spirit, her broad vision. He recalled her last words to 
him when, at the end of a long and faithful life, her mental 
vision undimmed by the more than four score years of devoted 
ser\-ice, she, too, recognized the approach of the inevitable guest 



Address of Mr. Foster, of Vermont 91 

and, like a victor, calmly went forth to greet him. Then he 
spoke of Queen Victoria, of Elizabeth, of Catherine the Great, 
and, in those deep tones familiar to all who knew him, he de- 
clared that it was his profound judgment that there was no 
place in all the world, however exalted, ever occupied by a 
woman which his mother could not have filled and would not 
have adorned. ^ 

So Redfield Proctor came honestly by those qualities of 
mind and heart which were the source of his strength, his 
power, his greatness. And surely he was a great man. We 
may not always agree as to what constitutes greatness. We 
may sometimes find it diflicult to form a definition of it. And 
it is true that sometimes we fail to recognize it when in our 
verv midst. But no one familiar with his character and career, 
through association with him, no one permitted to sound the 
depths of his life, to discern his motives, to note his keen insight, 
his comprehensive grasp, his profound knowledge of men, his 
rare judgment, his broad sjTnpathies, his rugged integrity, his 
devotion in peace and war to the best interests of his State and 
Nation, could question his title to leadership. But greatness is 
a comparative term. And to assign him the place among his 
fellow-men to which he is justly entitled would be difficult to- 
day even for those who knew him most intimately. But that 
which we hesitate to declare to-day will be apparent to-morrow. 
Time sifts the sands of human life and preserves for remem- 
brance the fine gold of the right motive, the high purpose, the* 
nobb deed. As we look back through the mists and shadows of 
the past, we see figures that seem to rise to heroic stature, and 
we exclaim "There were giants in those days." And as Killing- 
ton and Pico, those gems of the Green Mountains which he 
loved so well, tower majestically above the valley as one recedes 
from them, so with the passing years, our perspective corrected. 



92 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

wc shall see Redfield Prdctor in his larger and truer propor- 
tions as citizen, soldier, statesman, and patriot. 

There are certain characteristics which, if not necessarily the 
badge of greatness, indicate wherever found true nobility of 
soul. Perhaps the first of these is simplicity. Like mercy, it 
becomes the monarch better than his crown. Lincoln possessed 
it; and so did Grant. History is full of the story of men who 
have risen to place and power only to exhibit the ignoble, the 
ostentatious, the vainglorious. 

But Lincoln, the President of the United States, the Com- 
mander in Chief of the vast Union forces, clothed with the ex- 
traordinary powers which result from war, and surrounded by 
pomp and circumstance, remained the same plain Abraham 
Lincoln who split rails to fence his father's farm. And this 
simplicity of character was strikingly, exemplified in the man 
whom we commemorate to-day. Never from him was there the 
slightest suggestion of the proverbial "insolence of office." He 
had, indeed, a keen sense of the exalted positions with which 
he was honored; but he was moved rather by the responsibility 
which accompanied them than by the dignity and authority 
with which he chanced to be clothed. As colonel of his regi- 
ment, as governor of his State, as Secretary of War, as United 
States Senator, at all times and under all circumstances he was 
the same plain Redfield Proctor. He was the spirit of democ- 
racy incarnate. 
* Not that I am as good as you, but that you are as good as I — 
was the spirit which permeated his being, dominated his life, 
and shaped his conduct of men. He was not merely born among 
the common people. He was of them. He was continually 
drawn to them. He was never exalted above them. And at 
the hour of his death he was enthroned in the hearts of the 
people of his State. 



Address of Mr. Foster, of Vermont 93 

His was a life of service. This is the key to his character. 
He was ser\'ing his countr\' at the head of his regiment at the 
age of 31 ; and the grizzled sur\i\-ors of that regiment will tell 
voii that by word and deed he plainly indicated that that which 
was ever uppermost in his mind was the errand upon which he 
was sent and the sacred duty imposed upon him. Industry 
and frugality, those good old-fashioned New England traits, 
characterized his entire life. During those years when he was 
organizing and building up his vast business, succeeding where 
others failed, he was not so absorbed in his private affairs as 
to neglect the duties of his citizenship. 

He took his part in the deliberations of the town meeting; he 
served as selectman in administering the affairs of the town; 
he represented his town and county in the legislature; he served 
the State as lieutenant-governor, and as governor. In all of 
these capacities he was the public-spirited citizen and the faith- 
ful public servant, jealous of the rights and watchful of the 
interests of those he served. And throughout his wider public 
career this desire to ser\'e his people, his State, the Nation, 
himianitv, was the controlling impulse of his nature. He was 
no dreamer, no doctrinaire. He was severely practical. His 
voice was seldom heard in debate. But while he laid no claim 
to oratory, often, when he did speak, as when he described to 
the vSenate the conditions he found in Cuba, he displayed in a 
high degree the very essence of oratory — the power to persuade 
by the just and forcible presentation of facts. This attractive 
field, however, he left to others. It was his great executive 
ability and his sound, practical common sense that made him 
the power that he was in the Council Chamber of the Nation. 
Thus he served his day and generation. Thus he employed the 
talents that were given him. Thus he fulfilled the great law of 
service. 



94 Memorial Addresses: Redficld Proctor 

He was a typical son of his native State. The jocular remark 
made years ago, that Vermont was a good State to emigrate 
from, contained a great truth. That is a good home for the 
young man to go out from whose choicest decorations are the 
simple but enduring virtues of human life. Whether that home 
be a costly mansion, stored with the rarest productions of art 
and the handiwork of man, or a humble cottage, furnishing 
scant protection against the winter blasts, the recollection of its 
faith and love and devotion will go with him farther and abide 
with him longer and be of infinitely more service to him than 
ought else he can take with him. And that is a good State to 
go out from whose cardinal principles are the simple but pro- 
found truths of human life and human relationship, and whose 
citizens see in their State the ancient torch of celestial fire 
handed down from generation^sto generation and by them to be 
passed on unimpaired to the generation yet to come. From its 
earliest history Vennont has been the cradle of human freedom. 
The sturdy pioneers who went thither in search of homes fell 
under the most potent spell of nature. 

The wild freedom of the forest, the rugged strength of the 
hills, the beauty of the valleys, and the fierce struggle with 
savagery developed within them that stem love of liberty, that 
resolute independence, and that profound respect for govern- 
ment and all the instrumentalities of human progress which 
have characterized the true sons of Vermont in all succeeding 
time. And he was one of those true sons. He loved her hills 
and valleys. He cherished her history, her traditions, her in- 
stitutions, her achievements. He was jealous of her good name 
and fair fame, and throughout his long life his heart beat true 
to her every interest. He honored the State as the State hon- 
ored him, and no higher tribute can be paid to his memory than 
the simple truth that the State is better bv reason of his life, his 
character, his career. 



Address of Mr. Hull, of Iowa 95 



Address of Mr. Hull, of Iowa 

"Sir. Speaker: It is with feelings of much hesitation I address 
the House in commemoration of the hfe and services of the late 
Hon. Redfield Proctor. Senator Proctor was a man of 
marked characteristics, of great ability, of high ideals, and of 
marked success in every undertaking of his life. My acquaint- 
ance with him began when he was Secretary of War under 
President Harrison. Coming to Congress a man inexperienced, 
I found him most helpful to me in the line of work to which so 
large a part of my congressional career has been devoted. His 
State recognized his great ability, conferring the high honor of 
a seat in the United States Senate upon him, thus depriving the 
War Office of his great administrative capacity. As a Senator 
he soon reached the very responsible position of chairman of 
the Committee on Military Affairs, and at every session I was 
drawn in close contact with him on great measures affecting that 
branch of our Government. In all our meetings and discussions 
he proved himself the same, a man of clear views and wise 
counsel. He was the type of those great statesmen who wrought 
wisely and well for the government of our country in the past, 
a class of men who came up through the various walks of life 
step by step by the sheer power of their own ability until they 
reached the highest point. This type of men are rapidly pass- 
ing away. Happy will it be for the Republic if the changed con- 
ditions of our social life can produce as high a type of men as the 
older and more meager living has given us. Senator Proctor's 
friends saw with great sorrow that in the last few years of his 
life his strength was broken arid that but a few years more 



96 Memorial Addresses: Redfield Proctor 

would remain for him to work out his destiny. The end came 
sooner than I, at least, expected, and in offering this tribute 
to his memory I can only say that he was a man to be trusted 
and a man to be loved. All hail to his memory, and peace to 
his ashes. 

Mr. H.\SKiNS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
Members of the House desiring to do so have permission to print 
the remarks in commemoration of the life and character of 
vSenator Proctor within twenty days. 

The Speaker pro tempore (Mr. Scott). If there be no objec- 
tion, that leave will be granted. 

There was no objection. 

And then, in accordance with the order heretofore adopted, 
the House (at 1 o'clock and 30 minutes p. m.) adjourned. 



o 



